Don't Walk Away
by magicbulletgirl
Summary: It has been 13 years since Shinichi first became Conan Edogawa and today is the first time it might be safe for him to be who he really is... Chapter 3 posted minor language warning.
1. Dont Walk Away

Author's note: "lll" are purely for organizational purposes. "lllll" mean a time change or shift. _Italics_ are thoughts or emphasis (the latter will be of course in quotes). **_Bold italics_** mean heavy emphasis.

Enjoy...

**lllll**

_Doubt thou the stars are fire;_

_Doubt that the sun doth move;_

_Doubt truth to be a liar;_

_But never doubt I love._

Hamlet (2.2.115-118)

**lllll**

**Don't Walk Away**

**lllll**

Conan looked across the room from his corner. His hands were in his pockets as he leaned casually against the wall.

From his shadowy sanctuary, he could see everything going on before him.

Kogoro and Eri were arguing over how many drinks he had already consumed that evening and Kogoro was saying he hadn't meant what he said about her being so nagging.

Sonoko was dancing with her husband of seven years or so, Makoto.

He noted the presence of Ran's former high school English teacher, and FBI agent Jodie Sainte-million, casually talking with some gentlemen in a corner, two of them being Aiki Shuichi and James Black.

He could see Heiji talking with Kazuha as his daughter, Akane, slept in her mother's arms.

He could see Inspector Megure chatting with Inspector Nakamori, congratulating him on his daughter's recent marriage. Said daughter was tugging at her husband's arm away from the fancy paintings with jeweled frames that hung on the walls.

He noticed for the umpteenth time that evening that the lights were dimmed and the lighted ice sculptures cast a glow on the red streamers that danced along the ceiling.

He even occasionally noticed the rain falling softly outside.

What he dared not look at was the graceful woman in the middle of a crowd of people.

She was smiling and holding a champagne glass as her colleagues congratulated her repeatedly for her victory in a long, brutal, and highly profiled case. A few minutes before, it was announced she was now a partner in her mother's law firm.

Conan looked down at his glass.

It had been so long since he was this close to her. So long…

**lllll**

**lll**

**lllll**

It had been one month short of twelve years now since he had become Edogawa Conan. Or to be more precise Edogawa Conan was literally 11 years and 11 months old today. Of course, he looked 18, but his mind was 28 and age had left its scars.

**lll**

The first two years of his new life were scattered with appearances as himself to Ran. They were short and too far apart for anything to be said.

But, it was not as if it mattered anymore.

The day before Ran graduated from high school the truth was known.

There was no cure.

None permanent enough to withstand the reproducing, regressing qualities of the Apotoxin.

**lllll**

"This drug is a devil," Ai told him that day, "I will undoubtedly be damned for creating it."

"Do you mean there's nothing?"

Ai could not look into his eyes.

Conan froze in shock. It came fast, his breath shortened and then it hit him full force.

**lll**

He ran from there.

He ran as fast as his eight-year-old legs would take him.

He ran to get away from it.

That poison fused with the blood in his veins.

He ran so that he could disappear.

Like his real-self had in those few moments on that fateful day.

He wanted the wind to block out the sound of that voice…

That voice that cried…

That voice that yelled at him when he hadn't called…

That voice that could—should hate him.

That voice that had always said she loved him.

That voice that could make _him cry_ and feel like the scum of the earth.

**lll**

He continued running, but no matter how intent he was on getting away his legs led him home.

Home had long since ceased being his former house. No, now his home was the Mouri residence.

He stepped inside to find no one home.

Then he remembered.

Ran said she would go shopping with Sonoko.

Kogoro was buying Ran a gift.

His sweat froze on his skin.

He was alone.

He realized the weight in his hand and noticed he was clutching the cell phone.

He pressed "one" and held his bow tie to his mouth.

**lllll**

Ran looked down at her cell phone.

It read "Shinichi."

Her heart jumped into the air as she answered it.

"Hello?" she said trying to keep calm.

"Hi, Ran," she noted the feeling in his voice.

"Shinichi? How are you? Are you coming home? Tomorrow is the graduation ceremony. Are you going to come?"

He smiled at the eagerness in her voice, but it did nothing but push the knife that was his sorrow even more into his heart.

"I'm fine. I'm sorry but I can't make it. Also it looks like I'm not going to be home for a long time. I'm really sorry Ran."

She heard the quiver in his voice.

"Shinichi are you crying?"

"Just out of breath. And I would never cry as long as you're happy."

Ran's heart skipped a beat.

"What's wrong, Shinichi?"

He stayed silent.

"Shinichi?"

"Ran, promise me. Promise me that you'll live as you want to. Be happy. Don't be sad anymore. Don't…"

"Don't hang on right?"

Shinichi looked at the phone in surprise.

"Shinichi, I'm not going to make stupid promises to let go now. Not after all this time."

"Ran I- You have to be happy. I can't hold you back anymore."

"It sounds like you're leaving me."

"Dammit Ran – I can't stand knowing I make you cry."

"AND HOW WOULD YOU KNOW WHEN I CRY!"

He heard the tremble in her voice and an echo in the background.

_Where is she?_

"YOU'RE NEVER HERE TO SEE ME CRY! And so what if I've been waiting, it doesn't matter! As long as I know you're coming back someday I'll wait as long as I have to whether you want me to or not!

**lll**

_Jesus Ran._

**lll**

"Ran…"

"And here I am, at your house, wishing for you to be here and this is what I get!"

He heard her dry laugh.

"You must think I'm a fool," she said in defeat.

"Ran, I never thought that about you. I never could. Never. I'm sorry. Forget what I asked. It's just that…"

"It's just that you _really_ don't want me to wait anymore. Do you?"

**lll**

_If he could stop this moment and never move on would be heaven. Her dedication and loyalty was unwavering. To break a force like that would be monstrous. It would unleash hell upon himself. _

_Not that it mattered, he was already cursed._

**lll**

"I don't want you to be sad. I hate that I can't stop not being there for you."

"Shinichi… I cry because I don't _know_."

"Know what?"

"Know… I don't know if… if you… if you love me.

"I love you."

Shinichi held his breath.

The air in his lungs seemed to disappear as a cold wind swept over him.

"Shinichi, are you there?"

He gulped the lump in his throat down, "I'm here."

He heard nothing for a few seconds, and then a sob.

"_IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY!"_

**lll**

_She thinks… but I can't just do that to her. I can't do it that easily. I can't tell her I hate her. I can't. But I have to..._

**lll**

Whatever he was going to say was pushed aside as the words tumbled out of his mouth.

**lll**

"**RAN**! _Did it ever seem like I didn't **love you**_? _What motive would I have **not** to love you? Is it plausible that I took you to that **damn restaurant** to ask you to **marry me**? Did I show up to that play planning to **kiss you** and tell you everything. **Yes I did**!"_

Ran's heart skipped as she took in every word he was saying with that husky voice breaking her heart.

Shinichi breathed in, "The evidence makes me guilty as charged, and you have my confession as well. I can't stop loving you, but I have to let you go and you have to let me. Otherwise, I don't think I could live with myself knowing I killed a woman's soul."

He heard Ran's sobs and breathing, "See! There you go saying something like that. Making it impossible for me _not_ to love you and look what you're asking of me!"

"Well, when you realize that your life is going a certain way you want it to start quickly so it doesn't hurt as much after you've let in sink in!"

"Shinichi!"

"Ran, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I can't change this…the way my life is. So please. Let go."

"You let go!"

"I can't. Not knowing that you haven't yet!"

"But you can't be gone forever?"

"There is no forever."

"Then you'll come back, right?"

He wished he was six feet under.

"Ran, please."

"You will?"

"Ran, I have to go now."

"Shin -?"

"Sayonara Ran."

"Shinichi," muttered Ran as the dail tone beeped in her ear.

**lllll**

**lll**

_I will always love you._

**lll**

**lllll**

The next day at Ran's graduation ceremony, she couldn't help but pity Conan. He was wearing a gauze mask due to a cold that came on during the time that Ran was at the morning rehearsal. She couldn't help but notice how detached he was during his Ran-neechan's graduation.

As she was speaking and looking at her audience, she noticed a figure standing at the top of the bleachers clearly, his stance and form recognizable.

_Shinichi?_

**lll**

Once it was over, she found Heiji and Kazuha; they had come to congratulate her.

The lawn was crowded and she looked around desperately.

Then she saw him.

He was so close.

But he was walking away…

His hair was messy from the wind blowing. His walk looked a little tired and worn.

But still… it was him.

She knew it was deep down.

But he was walking away…

and…

waving goodbye behind him?

_Is it goodbye forever?_

She turned and looked at Conan.

He was looking at her with a hint of sadness in his eyes.

She smiled and turned to her father and her mother and Heiji and Kazuha, all of whom were arguing and said, "Let's go now," with a bright smile.

**lllll**

The next morning, Conan went left to Dr. Agasa's house early.

Conan took off the mask and turned to the figure lying in the hall.

_Just as I thought, down to 6 hours. This temporary cure is practically useless for him now. Not as if it matters, his heart can't take another transformation. I warned him._

"Kudo! Wake up."

"Ehh… I feel like-"

"Just stop Kudo, I know. Now you should get home soon Ran will be expecting you."

"I don't know if I can do that."

"She saw you yesterday."

"What?"

"You got to close and she saw you walking away. Then she did too. There's nothing else to it, you left. She left too."

"Damn it."

He let himself continue lying on the floor, tangled in the oversized clothes.

"I don't even know why I went..."

"You wanted to see her," Ai said as she started walking out, "one last time… the way you really are. It was rather selfish of you to watch her like that. But that was all you had left didn't you?"

He reached into his pocket and put on his glasses.

**lll**

_This is all I have left now._

_This life of nothing._

**lll**

**lllll**

Ran looked out the plane and stared at the planes reflection on the glass of Tokyo's international airport.

_What are you doing this for?_

_**To get away...**_

_From what?_

_**From Shinichi.**_

_But you don't even know where he is._

_**He is where I am not and if I go where I am he won't be there either.**_

**lllll**

Ran left for America in July.

She had applied, with her mother's insistence, to Harvard.

Conan was left with Kogoro and Eri for four long years.

And you didn't live with Kogoro's habits or Eri's cooking without finally learning how to cook decently for yourself.

In his old life, he would have just gone out to eat, but now he was bound to his new life.

**lllll**

Ran came back each year, during the summer for a few weeks and then for winter breaks.

Conan stayed out of her way except to say hi, to eat, or say good-bye. He couldn't really stand to be around her. It hurt now more than it ever had.

**lllll**

When Ran finally graduated and came back to study law in Japan, he was already twelve years old. His face had already started thinning out, he was taller and now his voice had already begun to take different tones. He wouldn't let Ran see him. He'd lock himself in his room if she came over unannounced, or head to Professor Agasa's. It was rude, that he knew, but it made sense to him somehow- have her angry with him, even if it was Conan-kun, rather than depressed and confused.

**lllll**

Finally, the year came when Ran was finished with her three years of law school at the University of Tokyo.

Ran and Conan hadn't talked to each other in a long time, much less seen each other.

The day of her graduation from law school, Kogoro had pulled Conan by the collar to make him come, after Eri had pulled his to make him stand still as she tied his tie.

**lll**

Conan stood at the top of the university bleachers and watched Ran accept her diploma and walk back to her seat.

She had graduated top honors, first in her class.

He had to be proud.

Once it was over Eri, Kogoro and Conan walked down into the crowd to find Ran.

"Hey! Mom! Dad!"

They turned to see Ran standing there.

The wind that day was blowing her gown into her body, outlining the curves of her body.

"Congratulations!" The happy parents exclaimed over their daughter.

Conan would have had the chance to slip away unnoticed if he hadn't waited that extra second.

"Conan-kun? Is that you?"

The teenaged figure stepped back a bit, keeping his hat low over his eyes.

"Hi Ran."

The voice chilled Ran's heart, her pulse quickened.

Then she noticed the glasses over his eyes.

"Conan!" The smile plastered itself naturally on her face.

She pulled him in to a hug, "How have you been?"

"Fine, just fine." He smiled.

**lll**

_That smile…_

**lll**

"Come on, let me get a good look at you. I haven't seen you in a while. What are you now, 15?"

"Yeah, ah no!"

She had pulled off his hat.

The hair was a little messy, but the eyes.

Ran's eyes locked with his and for a moment was lost in a wave of familiarity.

They showed the depths, as they always had, of someone older.

"Uh, Ran, I have to get going, I'll see you later," said Conan as he broke the link.

**lll**

_That was Shinichi's voice._

**lll**

"Hey- didn't I make it clear today? It's been awhile since we've all been together, so forget whatever you were planning." Kogoro said, glaring.

"Sorry old man but I'm going." He waved behind him as he started to walk away.

"That punk. When he gets home..."

"Calm down Kogoro, I told you to give him his space. Now Ran do you want to go out for dinner?" Eri turned to her daughter.

Only to find Ran was no longer there.

**lllll**

"Conan-kun, wait!" Ran yelled after him.

Conan turned.

"Ran-neechan, what are you doing? I thought you'd be spending time with your parents…"

"I'll spend time with whoever I want to. It's my graduation and I want to spend time with you. But don't call me Ran-neechan, Ran is just fine."

She grabbed onto his wrist, "Now come on or we'll be late for the dinner reservations mom set up to invite me to work at her firm."

"Those where supposed to be a surprise," said Conan.

"Like they could keep a surprise around me," Ran smiled, "I've really sharpened my detective skills. I bet I could beat Shinichi now."

"I don't know. Shinichi-san was pretty smart."

"I'll never really know. So… what are you up to. You were so smart last time I saw you, are you still helping Dad on his cases?"

"A little, sometimes they just hire me now. I tend to cheaper than your Dad."

Ran laughed, "I know. He's down to a few cases a month now. But he's older now and I don't want him in too much danger."

"That's why I'm around; too keep him out of trouble."

Ran looked at Conan, he wasn't looking at her but the side profile was exactly like Shinichi's when Shinichi was his age.

**lll**

_Too alike for distant cousins. _

_Ran, what are you thinking? Even if Conan was Shinichi what reason would you have to reveal that you know? He's obviously over you._

**lll**

Conan noticed Ran's gaze, "Why are you looking at me like that Ran?" he said softly.

**lll**

_She knows now, she has to. Will she say anything?_

_Please let her say anything..._

**lll**

"Uhh… no it's nothing. I was just wondering… if you've heard from Shinichi."

Her voice faltered at that last part.

She felt a touch at her cheek.

"You don't even know you're crying…" He whispered as he wiped away her tears.

She looked up at him.

**lll**

_That kindness…that pain behind his eyes._

**lll**

He had to get away… away from those tender eyes that could pull him in, sedate him, and leave him sinking in an ocean of madness, regret and most important of all - love.

"Ran … I'm sure he's fine. I'm sure he wishes he could be here." He was looking away from her.

**lll**

_Who are you?_

**lll**

"Conan? Why won't you look at me?"

He turned and looked into her eyes.

She was overwhelmed by a feeling of depth and loss and most of all - regret.

"But how… who…" She stopped from the sudden arms around her waist.

He hugged her close and held her for a few moments, taking in all he could of Ran to fill that hunger that had been left unquenched for so long.

Ran knew this embrace. To be lifted by strong arms, pulled in and held as if she would slip away at any moment.

Oh how she longed to be held like this.

And then he let her go.

He let her go even when he didn't want to.

It hurt more than anything he had ever known, and he knew pain very well.

"I have to go Ran."

"Conan…no… Shin-" she whispered.

He smiled, "Be happy," he said and started walking away, waving behind him as he did.

Ran stood rooted to the ground.

_Shinichi…_

_Shinichi..._

**lll**

"Shinichi!"

Conan turned and looked at her, surprised.

She ran forward to him and held him.

"It's you. _It's you_. Somehow… it is."

"Ran…" surprise marked in his voice, "I..."

She looked up at him, "You are, aren't you?"

Silence descended upon their hearts.

"Ran... I..."

Conan looked into her eyes and felt a barrier coming up.

"Ran?"

"No. You're right. You're not. Just like you always said," she said.

She stepped back a bit, "Not anymore," she breathed in just loud enough for him to hear.

And then she turned, and walked away.

**lllll**

Heiji and Kazuha watched the scene from the side.

"Good, they haven't seen us yet," commented Kazuha.

"What are you talking about?"

"Conan-kun and Ran-chan."

"What about them?"

"Conan's been treating Ran terrible! Did you just see that?"

**lll**

_Just like that Shinichi… always leaving her alone_

**lll**

"I don't know. He looked a little lost for words too."

"What happened to them? Remember whenever Kogoro or Eri mentioned Ran was coming and we were there visiting, Conan would leave for Professor Agasa's. Or that one time when Ran came over unannounced, he stayed in his room. Why does he do that? He used to love his neechan."

**lll**

_He couldn't let go… _

**lll**

Kazuha looked at Heiji.

"Hey, I know that look. _What do you know?_"

Heiji looked at her, "_Nothing_, nothing. I swear," he raised up his hands to show he had nothing.

"Don't give me that!"

"Hey look Conan's walking away!" he pointed, "I should go and…uh… follow him. I'll call you soon okay?"

"Heiji, you idiot. This isn't over!" Kazuha shouted as Heiji went running off.

Suddenly Heiji ran back, "You're right honey… it's not."

He kissed her quickly and set off leaving Kazuha in a blush that had never faded away from whenever he did that.

**lllll**

Ran could feel Conan's gaze on her back as she walked away.

**lll**

_Yes- Conan. Not Shinichi._

**lll**

She felt soft tears welling in her eyes.

She wiped them away as she walked around the lawn looking for her parents.

"Hey Ran-chan!" came a voice from behind.

"Kazuha-chan, you made it!" she turned and was swept in a hug. "It's so good to see you."

"Congratulations on the top honors! I know! What has it been now, a year since I last saw you?"

"Thank you. Yeah we don't have enough time anymore."

Kazuha nodded in agreement.

Ran looked around, "So where's Heiji-kun?"

"Oh," Kazuha looked down, "He couldn't make it. A case came up as we were heading to the airport. He said to tell you he was sorry he couldn't make it."

"Oh…" Kazuha noticed a little disappointment in Ran's eyes, "Well tell him 'hi' for me and all that."

**lll**

_As expected._

**lll**

"Okay. Oh! I saw your parents by the refreshment stand, were you looking for them?"

"Yeah."

"Well let's go."

They started walking towards the refreshment stand and chatted for a while until...

"So how are things going between you and Heiji?" asked Ran.

"Well when you've been married for almost six years, you really get used to each other and how everything is. There isn't anything too much different until you're three."

Ran stopped and looked at Kazuha, "Don't tell me you're…"

"Muhum," nodded Kazuha grinning.

Ran squealed in delight and hugged Kazuha, "Oh my god! Congratulations! How long have you known?"

"I found out yesterday! I haven't told Heiji yet. Heck, I haven't told anyone but you!"

Ran looked at her surprised, "Why haven't you told him?"

"Well knowing him," Kazuha started, "He wouldn't let me out of sight, and he'd be fussing…"

Ran smiled as she listened to Kazuha's reasons.

**lll**

_She's so lucky to have that, more than she knows._

**lll**

"…yes but our anniversary is tomorrow so I'll surprise him then."

"Well, good luck afterward then. Do you want to come to dinner with us? Conan was supposed to go but he left."

"Umm I think I have time," she said as she looked at her watch.

A ring came from her pocket. She took out the cell phone and smiled.

"It's Heiji. Oh," she pointed up ahead, "there are your parents. I'll be there in a minute okay?"

"Okay," said Ran as she walked off.

**lll**

"Heiji?" said Kazuha as she answered the phone.

"Hey honey, listen Conan just bought a ticket for a train to Osaka. It leaves in an hour."

"Did he see him following you?"

"No, but I'm sure he noticed something."

"What should we do? Ran invited me to dinner, so that'll be about two hours. I think you should talk with Ran. If my hunch is right she wants to talk with you."

"But Conan's heading to Osaka now to see me."

"Well I'll catch a plane, it only takes little more than an hour. I'll be home before he is, The train takes 3 hours afterall."

"But…" started Heiji, confused.

"Those three and the hour wait Conan has gives me plenty of time. I want to be there to talk to him."

Heiji heard the tone in her voice and sighed, "Okay. What should I do until it's logical that I get here from Osaka?"

"Go out and eat. You were complaining how hungry you were… or go shopping."

"How about I meet you at the airport? I'll be waiting inside that western coffee house place you like so much."

"The Starbucks?"

"Yeah. Then I can kiss you good-bye."

"Sounds great."

"Okay I'll see you in two hours. Bye."

He kissed her over the phone and hung up.

He looked around and started walking to the mall.

_Time to do some shopping,_ he grinned, _but_ _first some chow mein._

**lllll**

Kazuha joined Ran and her parents. "Heiji was telling me the case finished fine and to get home soon. I told him I'd get home after dinner with you. That's fine right?"

Kogoro looked at her, "Yeah it's fine."

Ran smiled.

**lll**

_Company sounds nice._

**lll**

**lllll**

Conan boarded the train and looked out the window, it'd be awhile until the train left but he could relax now. It seemed as if whoever had been following him had disappeared.

He didn't want to be bothered with a trivial one time stalking anyway. He had other thoughts to concentrate on.

**lll**

_Damn it! This was why I didn't want to see her anymore! I can't stand to see her anymore._

_But I can't say I don't love her._

**lll**

His thoughts fell back to holding Ran and he took off his jacket.

It smelled like Ran.

That orchid smell to her that cleared his mind.

**lll**

_I could have come out of all the lies. I could have told her the truth._

_Ran gave me that chance, but what would that do? _

_She already knew._

_And I already told her to let go._

_And just what did she mean by that? _

_That I'm not Shinichi anymore…_

_Does she really think I don't love her anymore?_

**lllll**

Ran said good-bye to her parents and Kazuha and headed home after dinner. It was still early but she had nothing else to do.

She looked around her new home. It was an apartment she had just began renting a few days ago.

It was a small one bedroom apartment with a kitchen and bath. Thankfully, there weren't too many things to unpack. Mostly her clothes, personal belongings and she only had a couch, a TV set, and a table in the living room.

Her bed still needed to be put together.

_I can get to that tomorrow. Right now I'd really like to get some sleep._

Then she noticed the time.

_It's only nine o'clock on a Friday night and here I am thinking about sleep, how pathetic._

Then she felt how tired she was.

Not for sleep, but of everything.

She lay on the couch, quite comfortable until a knock came on the door.

_Who could it be at_… she looked at the clock… _10:15?_

_Wow, I must have been dozing off…_

She got up from the couch and pulled herself together.

The knock came again.

"I'm coming!" she shouted.

She opened the door and was a little stumped.

"Heiji-kun?"

"Well that's a fine hello. How are you doing?"

Ran shook her head, "I'm fine. What are you doing here?"

"I'm just checking up on you. And you don't look okay. Were you asleep? Or were you crying earlier?" He walked in.

Ran smiled and closed the door, "I knew it. You were here earlier. What are you and Kazuha up to? You couldn't know I was crying by just looking at my face."

"I remember the days I could pass something by you. Not anymore. Yeah I was here and we kind of saw…" he sat on the couch.

"Oh…" Ran sat down.

"It was Kazuha's idea really. I talk to you mainly because she wanted to really let Conan have it."

Ran's eyes opened, "But she doesn't know!"

Heiji looked at Ran surprised, "Know what?"

Ran realized what she had said.

She looked away, "Nothing."

Heiji gently took hold of Ran's wrist, "Neechan, what happened?"

Ran looked at Heiji, "You know… don't you?"

Heiji's eyes locked on hers.

"Did he tell everyone? Why couldn't he tell me?"

Heiji watched the tears in Ran's eyes spill over.

"I always told him that he shouldn't keep this from you," the last words were harsh and regretful, "I shouldn't have let him."

He held Ran for awhile letting her cry on his shoulder wishing he didn't have to.

He felt as if he failed Ran, a girl that was like his sister since the day they met.

"Let me get you some tea okay?" he said when she had calmed down some.

He gently pushed her off his shoulder and set her against the cushion, "Then we'll talk."

Ran nodded.

lll

_I really hate you Kudo. You've put me in a spot I never wanted to be in. _

_Damn you._

lll

Heiji went to the kitchen and took out two cups from the cupboard.

He tried his best not to take his anger out on the new apartment after he slammed a cupboard shut.

He looked through a box and found some instant tea packets; he really had no idea how to make the real stuff.

Some five minutes later, he was back in the living room with the tea tray.

He looked at Ran. She was leaning back and looking out the window. A faint drizzle had started. "Are you okay Neechan?"

Ran snapped back into reality, "Oh, yeah, just day dreaming a bit."

Heiji smiled, "Well here's your tea."

Ran began to sip the hot liquid and felt the soothing effects quickly begin to work.

After a few minutes Ran began to talk.

**lllll**

Conan stepped off the train in Osaka and quickly made his way to the Hattori residence.

The street was wet from the summer's rain and his light jacket didn't add much protection.

He took out a key from his pocket and made his way to the back entrance to where Heiji's study was at.

The windows were dark.

He let himself in and slipped into some slippers.

"Heiji-kun?"

The lights flipped on and Conan froze.

"Heiji isn't here."

"Kazuha-san!"

"Hi, Conan-kun. I'm sorry where are my manners. Heiji is currently in Tokyo helping me solve something."

"A case?"

"You could say that," said Kazuha as she casually made her way to the door Conan came through and locked it, "Come on, you're here and you must be tired, let me get you some tea. Take off your jacket, its soaked."

Conan's signals were on high alert.

**lll**

_It's a trap! It's a trap! _

_Get away!_

**lll**

He followed her to the living room and handed her his jacket, which she hung in the bathroom to dry.

"Well Conan-kun, what did you want to see Heiji about?"

"Oh just about something…"

"Did you want to tell him about Ran-chan's graduation?"

"Eh… something like that."

"How she graduated top honors and at the top of her class? How happy she was to see you?" suddenly Kazuha's voice turned like stone, "Or how about how you made Ran-chan cry? How you were trying to leave her there and were being terrible to her!"

"That's not what happened!"

Kazuha stepped back as Conan looked shocked at his own outburst.

She quickly gained her stance and started, "We saw what happened! You were ready to leave Ran after you hugged her. What's wrong with you? When you were little I clearly remember all you cared about was your neechan, and now you don't even have the decency to spend the day with her!"

"Kazuha... you don't understand… I can't just keep on… _seeing_ her…"

"And why ever not?"

Kazuha's eyes pierced his face trying to decipher what was going on beneath.

Conan sighed, "I'm tired of never being able to do anything for her. I'm tired of being me."

Kazuha stared at Conan, "What do you mean! You leaving Ran-chan without a word, except your way of leaving is much worse because you're right in front of her face every time she goes home!"

"You don't know what you're talking about! Just stop!"

"There was a time I thought you were the sweetest kid in the world, boy the teenage thing did wonders for you didn't it! You're acting like…" Kazuha's mouth opened and closed trying to find the words that would perfectly describe his behavior.

And those lips found them.

"You're acting just like that Kudo Shinichi!"

Conan's went ridged at the sound of those words.

**lll**

_No!_

_Not after all this!_

_I'm still not that heartless jerk that I used to be?_

_Can I?_

_But CONAN is just a façade, _whispered a voice in his head that sounded like **_his_** voice_, CONAN isn't so much different from Shinichi because CONAN is only an extension of Shinichi. There really isn't a difference, you know that. Kazuha's words just proved that. You keep on doing the same damn thing over and over again. And you'll keep on doing it until it kills you._

_So just admit it,_ the voice continued,_ you know that's the first way of fixing the problem you know that._

_You're me aren't you?_

_Always have been and I'll agree with you that was a low comment but you can't blame her because she doesn't know._

**lll**

"Kazuka-kun," he slipped off his glasses and stood straighter, "I'll let you now what Heiji-kun has known for a long time. What Ran has suspected for forever and now knows…"

Kazuha gasped at the person in front of her and realized just how much he looked like the famous missing detective Kudo Shinichi.

**lll**

_He can't be… _

**lll**

**lllll**

"Conan is Shinichi. I know that now. I remember the day before I graduated high school he called me, somehow. He said he could love me forever but he had to let me go. I swore that day I would always love him."

Heiji could see the raw feeling in Ran's voice reflected in her eyes.

"He didn't want me to be sad. But couldn't he see I'd be just as sad without him."

Heiji took a hold of Ran as she began to shake.

"Neechan, its okay. It's okay."

"The day I graduated, he was there, as Shinichi. Why, I don't know. How, I can't begin to fathom… but he was there. He waved goodbye and walked away. Today he tried to do that again, but I couldn't… wouldn't let him. It seemed as if he were finally going to tell me, but I didn't want to let him."

"Why not?"

"Because…. he's not the same person. I mean he looks the same but he's not the same. Shinichi would never had left. Shinichi… he wouldn't have…"

Heiji could see Ran's lips move but couldn't hear her, "He wouldn't have what?" he asked softly.

"He wouldn't- he wouldn't have stopped loving me. He wouldn't have tried to run away if he loved me. He wouldn't have… told me to be happy. He would know… He would know I couldn't be happy, not without him."

"You really still love him? Don't you?"

"What good does that do?" Ran hiccupped, "He doesn't love me!"

Ran cried into Heiji's shoulder and she felt him shaking a bit.

"Heiji-kun? What's wrong?"

"I shouldn't have let him. I should have made him tell you everything. But you know the most important things, Conan is Shinichi but you have one fatal flaw in your theory neechan -"

Ran looked at him confused.

"He still loves you Ran, very much."

"No…" Ran whispered, "No he doesn't - he can't."

"What makes you so sure he doesn't?"

"He didn't stop me… from walking away."

Heiji sighed, "What does that matter? He still went to see you. He held you. That must mean something and you won't know until you ask him."

"But-"

"Just ask him."

Ran leaned away from him, "I don't think he would let me anymore…"

"You have to try Ran. Please. His world has been shattered over the past nine years. You have to let him know. I've seen mostly his side for the past few years but I know you and I know you don't want to let him go. It'll end up tearing you up more than it would by not asking. You'd come to regret not asking, not knowing for sure. He did this believing you wouldn't live like that, but he failed to see you will. You have to let the great detective know he's wrong."

Ran's eyes opened wide at the last few words in realization.

_There is only one truth…_

**lllll**

"You're, you're… Kudo."

Conan sighed, "Yes I am."

"But how? You should be older! And, and…"

Conan gripped Kazuha's arms and whispered urgently, "Calm down. It's a long story I'm sure Heiji can tell you later, but right now I'm leaving. I… I need to go."

Conan turned and headed for the door when he heard Kazuha whisper something.

"What?" he turned sharply, eyes wide open.

"She still loves you!"

He walked across the room and leaned over Kazuha, "Hear me once okay? She doesn't love me. She can't love me. There's no reason in the world she would!"

Kazuha pushed him away and slapped him.

"Don't be stupid. She loves you. You've heard her say it. She isn't married! She lives alone! She's never been kissed! She's been _waiting for you_ don't you get it! There's no proof that she doesn't love you. Get it through your head!"

Conan looked away and suddenly seemed to go limp.

"She walked away. She didn't want to hear it. She said I wasn't Shinichi anymore… or maybe she just said it so it wouldn't hurt when she walked away."

Kazuha stared wide-eyed at the young man in front of her realizing…

Conan pushed the lump in his throat and continued, "I can't just come back, like that. It isn't fair at all… she's been waiting all this time, and so have. I swore the day I left I would always love her but I can't have her live like that. I can't demand that she wait for me… I can… I can live believing she is happier without me."

"But…"

"Do you believe if I had continued telling her I would be back soon that'd she'd be half of what she is today? No, she would have never left to America, never would have taken that risk if there was the possibility of the day of my return and her not being there for it." There was a slight smile on his lips as if he were remembering something.

"_Get out of my house…"_

Conan looked over at Kazuha, she was pale and shaking but looking very determined.

"What?"

"_You heard me. Get out. You will not stand there and talk about Ran like that. She isn't needy or frail. She is strong on her own but you of all people should know how **lonely** she is without you. Maybe you were trying to spare her pain but overly protecting her didn't help at all!"_

Conan went into the bathroom and came out with his jacket. It was still soaked but he didn't care about that at the moment.

"I'm going. Tell Heiji I came by. Don't tell Ran about this and don't speak to anyone you don't know about me," he said. As he headed to the door he sighed and turned taking Kazuha by surprise.

His face was painfully strained into a smile, "I wish I could have seen you on better terms."

And with that he went out into the dark night blanketed by the hard rain and sung to sleep by the howling wind.

**lllll**

**lllll**

Heiji looked over at Ran asleep on the couch. Her eyebrows were furrowed and it seemed as if she were mumbling something in her sleep.

His cell phone vibrated in his pocket and he fumbled trying to pull it out without disturbing Ran.

"Hello."

"Heiji come home!"

"Kazuha?"

"We need to talk."

"Huh what?" he got off the couch and went out onto the balcony. "What happened with Conan? Is he still there?"

"No he left. And you failed to tell us in our six years of marriage that Conan is Shin-"

"Stop! Not over the phone. I'll be home soon. I just need to make sure Neechan is okay."

"Oh… how did that go?"

"I think she'll be okay. She's asleep right now but I want to say good-bye when I'm sure she's all right."

"Well hurry home because we're not going to be all right much longer if we don't get answers!"

"We?"

"Yes, me and the baby silly."

Heiji gulped, "The baby?"

"Yes aho the baby."

"You're…"

"Yeah I was waiting till you got home but I need you home ASAP and I didn't think anything would make you come faster."

"Why… HOW LONG HAVE YOU KNOWN?"

"Come home and find out."

Heiji opened his mouth to speak but stopped when he heard the beep in his ear.

_She hung up on me! Six years and I still don't understand that woman…_

Heiji sighed and suddenly became aware of how cold it was outside.

He went in and found Ran awake.

"Was that Kazuha?"

"Uhh yeah?"

"So how did that go?"

"I don't know but I've got a feeling that it was not good."

Ran looked at the floor, swaying a bit.

"Are you okay neechan?"

Ran looked up at Heiji, "Umm yeah… I just need time to think. But I'll be fine. You should get home. If you leave now you can make the one o'clock train to Osaka."

"Are you going to be all right?"

"Yeah," she replied smiling.

Heiji looked at her almost in pity, "I understand now, what Kudo said once."

"Huh?"

"He said your smile isn't real. It's to make others feel good, to think you're okay. Stop smiling when you don't want to. It's the healthiest thing in the world to wear your emotions on your sleeve. Trust me I know one guy that doesn't and he's got problems. No it's not Shinichi, I don't think you'd know him. Well I should go…"

He put his arms over her to hug her and was relieved that Ran hugged him back.

"Bye," said Ran as she opened the door.

"Yeah. Take care of yourself. I'll call you when I get home. Good night," he waved.

"Good night," she waved back.

Heiji left and Ran watched him leave.

She closed the door and leaned against it.

_What am I going to do?_

_How am I going to do this?_

A thought struck her and she quickly grabbed her car keys and her jacket and ran out the door.

**lllll**

**lllll**

Conan caught the soonest plane out of Osaka when he reached the international airport. He bought the cheapest ticket on his credit card and sighed as he slumped into his seat.

He promptly fell asleep.

**lllll**

Ai looked up as she heard the doorbell.

"Wonder who that could be?"

She looked out through the peephole.

"KUDO!"

She wrenched the door open.

"Ai… I need your help…"

She raised an eyebrow, "I don't get a hello at the least."

"Look I just came off the longest flight, I'm not in the mood."

"Fine."

She shut the door.

"Hey!" she heard Conan yelling through the door.

She opened it, "You look desperate. What happened?"

"She knows."

"Come inside."

She closed the door behind him.

"Don't bother with the shoes they don't bother with that stuff here in London."

"I know."

"Good otherwise I thought you would have lost more than your touch."

"Didn't I say I wasn't in the mood for the sarcasm?"

"Yes but it's only because you've let Ran know haven't you?"

Conan stared at his shoes, nodding.

"I expected as much by the fact you don't have a bag at the least or seemed to have," Ai sniffed the air, "changed since your flight ended."

"You're right. I came straight here."

"I take it nothing is going well?"

"I'm trying to make it by."

"So you rejected her right?"

"No."

"No? You mean she rejected you?"

"Something like that."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"She said 'I hate you and I never want to see you again!' ?"

"No."

"Then she doesn't hate you."

"But…"

"If she turned away she probably had a good reason for it. The most likely was that she was confused."

"Why?"

"You're a really lame detective Kudo if you can't figure that out," said a voice.

Shinichi turned, "Oh, it'd just you."

"That's a hello. But that doesn't really matter considering that you think she hates you."

"She walked away!"

"Did you think she possibly walked away from you for the same reason that her mother walked out on Mouri-san?" suggested Ai.

"Now that's an idea cousin."

"Hakuba… you aren't even familiar with that."

"How would you know? I make it my business to know about everyone. Now, Conan… Shinichi?"

"Shinichi's fine."

"Okay Shinichi. You know why Eri walked out on Kogoro right? Or why any woman walks away from any man right?"

Conan looked at him confused.

"Ai, why does he claim to be a meitantei when he can't solve this simple puzzle?"

"You'd be surprised how many men can't figure that one out Hakuba. But I don't know why he doesn't get it. As I understood it his father figured it how quite easily, and took Yukiko-san down a notch or too."

"Tell me already!" yelled Conan.

"She wanted you to…"

"Go-after-her."

…

"What?"

Tea was spilled at that point and they proceeded to toss him out.

"Think about it Edogawa-kun."

"Call us for the wedding."

**lllll**

Ran unlocked the upstairs door and walked in. She walked past her parents room and looked into her old room.

Which was now Conan's or rather Shinichi's room.

She looked at the chest of drawers and opened it.

_Underwear, shirts, clothes, clothes… aha! Personal belongings. Not exactly the best place to keep them._

At top was a photo album. Pictures of his second childhood filled it. No signs that he had had a girlfriend in the time she had been gone. Underneath the album was a wooden box.

Notes, papers. Nothing Shinichi related. Nothing saying anything.

As she was putting the papers back into the box she noticed something. The box was twice as thick as the inside. She pulled out everything looked for a way to open the base. She picked at it with her nail but is seemed as if it wouldn't move. She felt the box over looking for an explanation.

She found it. On the underside of the box was a hole just larger enough ot push your pinkie though. A smaller box fell out.

In that one was everything. The wrapper to her chocolate. A red thread. Phone bills. Letters.

She poured over those. Reading and rereading them.

She cried but was careful enough to be sure that none of her tears marked the already tear-stained page.

The morning light came through the blinds.

Conan would be home soon. It was odd that he hadn't come home already.

She put everything back in the order it had been and closed the drawer.

It was all there. Everything in black and white but she could scarcely believe it.

It was too much.

**lllll**

Conan laid back into his seat. He was tired. That and other matters were not helping.

"So what where you doing in London Kudo?"

"Same as you."

"Seeing Hakuba-kun?"

"Well the both of them, him and Ai."

"Oh I was there before you got there. I was just talking to Hakuba, trying to convince him to call Akako. Hasn't talked to her in months and she's been depressed, been making flowers wilt just by looking at them. But of course Hakuba doesn't believe in magic-"

"_I_ don't believe in magic."

"That's your thing, but one day you're going to have to realize the truth."

"Of what?"

Kaito turned to look at him deadly serious, "There are things in heaven and hell that human beings can't possibly understand and that the road to hell was paved by good intentions Kudo."

"You _were_ there weren't you?"

"Eh, I might of heard something…" he said as he picked something from his ear, "but seriously Kudo, you can't keep trying to protect Ran. Especially now that she knows… it's not good…" his expression darkened, "It's not good… for either of you. You should know what I mean."

"Kaito…"

The small cloud that had hung over Kaito's expression was shooed away and he smiled, "It's okay. It's not anyone's fault. It never is."

The rest of the flight back to Japan was silent.

**lllll**

Ran sat on her couch flipping through the channels.

It was dark out already and felt completely unproductive for the entire day.

She was half-tempted to watch the Yaiba marathon.

But thinking of it's happy ending just made her feel even more lethargic and numb.

Her mother had called earlier asking if Ran would be able to come into work later but Ran had to decline.

Since she had moved back to Japan she worked occasionally at her mother's firm. It was really the only time with classes and her other job that she had been able to see her mother. At the Kisaski Firm, she had done filing and looking at cases and organizing, things her mother promised would stop once she graduated law school.

Now she would actually be a lawyer and handle cases. Not that she hadn't done it before.

This time she would get to actually be head of the team and handle everything.

A very busy task.

And concentrating on work would be best.

She had waited for Conan to come back to her parents place until noon but he still had not returned.

So now as she laid on her couch lethargically she was bothered that thinking of Shinichi/ Conan was all she had to do.

It was funny that he had even stayed there after she left putting up with her parents.

He could have just gone to live by himself in that house.

The phone ringing shook her out of her thoughts.

"Hello?"

"Ran-chan?"

"Yukiko-san?"

"Ah, congratulations for graduating. How are you?"

"I'm fine… just."

"Excited aren't you? I expect a pretty girl like you working with all those handsome lawyers just won't know what to do with herself!"

"Who exactly are we talking about here?"

"Oh right. I just got caught up in the past for a second."

"So I noticed."

"Uh anyway, I'm calling you mainly because I got a call from Shinichi earlier telling me you 'know'?"

"You guys knew!"

"Why of course we did, though he didn't tell us until we kidnapped him."

"Eh?"

Ran was thoroughly confused.

"Well I just called to tell you that Yusaku and I are heading back to Japan and that we plan to stop and see you!"

"But didn't you just talk with…"

"Shinichi doesn't know and I think he's carried out this entire affair painfully wrong. He's now even making the mistake of moving back to his old house."

"What? Where did he go? When did he get back?"

"Uh his plane landed an hour ago. It seems as if he went to London to see Ai and Hakuba-kun."

"Ai?"

"You do know the entire story do you?"

"Yeah but Heiji had told me that Conan had no idea where she was."

"I think she called him up a few months ago to tell him where she was settled. Lots of family in Britain so she's safe up there. Oh were arriving at the house now. I'll call you back soon or we'll stop by tomorrow okay?"

"Okay."

"Don't feel to bad Ran. He just didn't inherit his father's skill with women… oh his uncle or cousin's either…"

"Eh?"

"Nothing nothing. But don't you worry about a thing! Don't dwell on what you're feeling right now and just try to think as to why he's done everything he has, umm. He might be a little stupid but nothing a good talking with won't sort out."

"Okay."

"Okay then. Bye."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Ran hung up the phone.

As she did so, she looked around her apartment.

"I need to clean up if I'm going to have the Kudo's here…"

**lllll**

Kudo Shinichi, in the disguise of Conan Edogawa, walked up the steps to the Mouri Detective Agency and opened the door.

"Where have you been, young man!" were the first words to his ears from a very stern Kiseki Eri.

"Out," deadpanned Conan.

"I don't care," said Kogoro to Eri, "Because he's out of here now. He can go live with his Aunt Yukiko. Or he can be like his dead beat cousin and disappear."

Eri looked at Kogoro who had now gone behind his newspaper, "You can't just kick him out!"

"Why not? Ran was the one who was supposed to take care of him and besides because of him I'm not doing so well in my cases anymore. His luck has run out."

"Well that's fine," replied Conan. Kogoro lowered his newspaper to look at him.

"Because I'm moving out. I was just talking with Aunt Yukiko and she's letting me move into the Kudo mansion. I'll be upstairs packing."

Eri looked at Kogoro, "See what you did!"

"Did what?"

"You made him leave!"

"He was already going."

"But didn't you see Ran here this morning waiting for Conan to come home?"

"So. What about it?"

"Obviously something happened."

"Something did," said Conan as he held a box with his belongings and put it down on Kogoro's desk.

"Well what was it?" asked Eri.

"She found out."

"Found out what?"

"That I'm Shinichi."

"What?"

"Kudo Shinichi is 25 and you're only 15."

"Fine don't believe me."

He took off his glasses and put them in the box as well, "All the better in fact, because to the rest of the world I'll forever be Edogawa Conan and having a few people know who I really am won't change anything."

Eri, unlike her husband, wanted answers, "Say you are really Kudo Shinichi, how did you get this way?"

"It's a long story and both of you will undoubtedly be angry at me but you want to know right?"

"You're right we'll be angry!"

"Kogoro—stop! He's obviously been through a lot. Listen to him all right?" she turned back to Conan/Shinichi, "We won't be angry okay?"

"You might say that now but…"

An hour later…

"**MY FAME IS BECAUSE OF YOU!**"

**lllll**

End of Part 1

* * *

AN: There's that part. I've been tinkering with this story since November... I was planning it as the longest one shot ever... and then I realized exactly what that would mean. It'll be awhile before I post the rest but it looks as if you've got enough to read through right now.


	2. May It Be True

AN: Mistake in the first chapter. The opening scene - it's actually only been 11 years and 11 months (12 years) since Shinichi turned into Conan. Want to keep him 18 in that scene. The rest of the ages in the story are correct. It was just that one thing – me miscounting. It has been corrected. Again: "lll" are purely for organizational purposes. "lllll" mean a time change or shift. _Italics_ are thoughts or emphasis (the latter will be of course in quotes). **_Bold italics_** mean heavy emphasis.

**lllll**

_Four Ravens sat in a tree,_

_One turned white and then there were three._

_The dove flew off and witnessed a scene_

_One that would have distressed the queen._

_Down off in the distant greenish field_

_The knight lay slain right under his shield._

_In retreating back the dove noticed a rat_

_And then the third raven turned into a cat._

_Following the path the dove had taken_

_It was stopped by the second, a dog, and forsaken._

_The three of them gathered the knight in a round _

_By debts and promises and friendship bound._

_And then the last raven, a maiden, lifted his head_

_And kissed his wounds that were so red._

_Aided by the others, she heaved him away_

_The journey itself lasted the day_

_She buried him before the prime,_

_Dead herself before dawn's time._

**lllll**

**Don't Walk Away – May It Be True**

**lllll**

The pain in Ran's foot was slowly growing. Sure to make itself known before it was ready to be ebbed away later that evening. She shifted her ankle side to side but it did little to lessen the pain.

Heels, though pretty and beautiful, did get tiring to walk in but she had been taught class and that meant putting aside the pain to smile, even if just a little weakly, at her colleagues and keep on her shoes.

Said group was busy drinking and congratulating her for her victory on the case, but to be honest she was getting a little tired. Since she had arrived over two hours ago and had finished greeting everyone, they would do nothing else but stand and crowd around her proclaiming how wonderful she was. Not that she didn't appreciate all of the attention, but it did get tiring considering that she was sick of just thinking about the case.

It had brought up too many choices that she had to make, brought her close to some people and pulled her apart from others.

One of which was standing in a corner trying his damn hardest not to look at her.

When she arrived he had certainly not been there, and he had most certainly not been on the guest list…

Or maybe seeing him there was a just a trick of her imagination…

Shrugging it off she continued nodding and saying thank you while looking around the room.

Besides those from work, and the usual important people who were always invited to parties like these, there were her best friends and her family…

All of which were happy in the pairs they came in, and that made her feel a bit like a sore thumb whenever they got together like this. But at the least this time, Sonoko hadn't brought anyone for her.

Inspectors Sato and Takagi waved from across the room to her. They had married during the winter the year she had left Japan. The day of the wedding, thank God and lucky coincidences, had been the day after she got home on holiday. At least they had been engaged when she left. She had been rooting for Takagi to win Sato's heart because… well he was Takagi and Takagi was wonderful and couldn't hurt anyone, at least not intentionally and only if they deserved it.

On top of that his really shy way of romancing Sato then, especially when he proposed to her (Ran had been glad she had joined that stake out, the phone call from Yumi was very much appreciated) because that look on Takagi's face so strongly reminded Ran of Shinichi when he had taken her to dinner. For days afterward (until that damned phone call) did she dream of Shinichi coming back and having that look on his face again.

Ran smiled down at her champagne flute, holding in her breath.

Everyone around her was so happy… celebrating a freedom that they fallen into, that most of them had not worked for.

And she had… she looked out of the corner of her eye at the shadowed figure in the corner... for him.

It was one of those times when you felt all that you had done was in vain… that it had not helped at all.

And it felt even worse when you were alone in it…

**lllll**

**lll**

**lllll**

Edogawa Conan woke up with the sun in eyes and that just made everything hurt a little bit more.

Sleep, after explaining the situation to Eri and Kogoro had been a less than pleasant experience. His dreams were plagued throughout the night by what had happened since that day in Tropical Land… and what had happened over the past few days.

Even if he tried believing that Ran had walked away as a ploy to grab his attention it didn't explain why she said he wasn't Shinichi anymore when his experience with Kazuha the night before last clearly stated that yes he still was the same idiot from his youth.

All of this of course just had to be compounded by Kogoro banging on the door wanting him up and out after breakfast.

_At least they're still going to feed me._

The one good thing he had found out in the past 24 hours was discussed in a call from Heiji as to how Ran was doing. That is, after Heiji was done telling him off for what had happened.

Ran did not know (thank God) about the Black Organization or exactly how he had turned into 'Conan.'

And hopefully she would never.

But throughout that entire conversation there had been the tug at the back of Shinichi's mind that Heiji wasn't telling him everything about Ran.

Well he wasn't going to think much on it. Ran was in the dark and even if it hurt to think that she hated him; if she was alive and well and maybe happy one day then didn't that outweigh the fact that he wasn't there with her?

He got tired of thinking about it at that point. He sat up and put a hand through his hair, a weak attempt at getting up.

Finally, he pulled the covers off himself and began the chore of getting dressed when he still hadn't quite fully woken up.

_Your pants are not your shirt idiot…_

After a few minutes in the bathroom he went into the living room for breakfast.

He had never felt so much tension in a room before.

Well, at least in one where everyone was alive.

Kogoro was behind his morning paper and Eri was deeply interested by her laptop checking the morning's batch of e-mails.

Conan went over to the cupboard over the stove and reached for the cereal.

After pouring himself a bowl he began to eat.

He was startled for a moment that the crunching in his mouth was disrupting the quiet of the room.

The newspaper in front of him snapped as Kogoro turned the page, almost reprimanding him for his actions.

"Boy," began the gruff voice behind the newspaper taking Shinichi by surprise, "After today I don't expect to see you again. After what you've done to this family by intruding on us and manipulating my daughter-"

"YOU KNOW THAT'S NOT TRUE!"

Eri looked up from the screen, Kogoro was still behind his paper, and all she could see of Conan's face was the clenched jaw and shadowed eyes.

Kogoro continued, "Then what is the truth? Are you trying to say that you haven't been lying to all of us for all these years just to keep yourself safe? Or that you haven't, more than once, endangered the lives of all of us or humiliated us in some way? Is that what you're saying _Edogawa-kun_?"

The words hung in the air. A deadly, biting silence to them.

It is not a good idea to let Mouri 'simmer' over night on any subject because by morning too much thinking has set him ready to boil over.

"No…" replied Shinichi, "I will not deny that some of things that you said are true. Yes, I did put you and Ran in danger from time to time, and Kisaki-san once she moved back in, but if you'll so kindly notice, you never knew because nothing ever happened to either of you. The safety of all of you was always one of my highest priorities. But I never did anything to humiliate you or Ran, and if you're going to hold the dart thing against me, I'm sorry but those cases had to get solved."

Kogoro stayed silent for a moment behind his paper.

The paged turned.

"As I was saying… I don't expect to see you again after today."

Eri's eyes narrowed as 'Conan' reached into his pocket and partly threw something down onto the table. It clattered in the silence.

"All right then," replied Shinichi as he walked away from the table and went into his room.

Eri looked over at Kogoro until he put down the paper.

"You're really letting him leave, just like that, aren't you?"

He grunted in response as he took a gulp from his cup of coffee.

Eri didn't understand him when he behaved like this; it was similar to something he used to do before they got back together. Disconnecting himself from whatever he was feeling and in the process forgetting just what else he was supposed to be feeling.

His indifferent mood was something she definitely did not appreciate.

On top of that he had not consulted with her before saying all those things to Conan. Honestly, the boy had obviously been through enough… of course "boy" wasn't the appropriate word.

Eri looked up as the door of what used to be Ran's room opened as Conan stepped out carrying a few boxes. Kogoro was already behind his paper once again, ignoring the situation.

Conan cleared his throat, "Umm, I'm going to need a ride to the house to take all this stuff so…. could I please have a ride?"

There was a silence for a moment, Eri waited to see if Kogoro would say anything. He didn't.

Eri looked away from her husband, "I'll take you Conan, just put your stuff in my car. The key is next to the door."

Conan looked mildly surprised, "Thank you."

Kogoro slowly moved the paper away from his face once Conan had exited. He received a hard glare from Eri.

"You are no help whatsoever. That young man is, whether you want to accept it or not, the one person our daughter will ever love. He was, is, her best friend in the world and though this has gone completely wrong for the both of them, it is only because of a misunderstanding. And by the way you kicking him out of the house saying 'I never want to see you again' isn't going to help the situation!"

"Well what do you expect me to do? We can't keep him here! He said when he came home last night that he didn't want to stay-"

"Don't you see what's happening? By removing himself here, away from Ran's family, he is taking himself out of her life!"

"And why is that so wrong, from what he told us last night she doesn't love him anymore."

"That's what he thinks but you know your daughter, don't you?" Eri stood up from her place at the table and went over to the bookshelf and picked up a clay pencil holder. The message on the bottom was written clearly.

"If she wrote that then, I'm pretty sure that she is still waiting. What she may think at the moment is that he doesn't love her."

"Then the problem is that they don't know how the other feels?"

"Right."

"Idiots…." replied Kogoro as he took a drink from the coffee cup in front of him.

Eri picked up the key Conan had left on the table and went into her and Kogoro's bedroom to get her purse.

Kogoro went back behind his paper as the door opened and Conan stepped into the room to get the last box and bag.

"Ready to go?" asked Eri as she adjusted the strap of her purse.

"Just got to put this last stuff in the car and then we can go," replied Conan.

"All right. I'll be back later!" called Eri as she followed Conan out.

She frowned as no "good-bye" followed them out.

Inside, Kogoro sighed as he folded up the paper. He had finished it a while ago but sometimes you needed a reason not to look at someone.

**lllll**

The sun was in her eyes...

_This is what I get for leaving the blinds open._

Sleepy eyes parted and darted looking around the living room.

Her eyes fell upon a picture that had survived the cleaning raid she had pulled on the apartment last night. Of course that had taken its toll on her, making her forget to put the picture away before she collapsed on the couch in the early hours of the morning.

Said picture was one that she and Shinichi had taken in Tropical Land. He was standing behind her, both hands held up in peace signs. Had said picture been taken a moment before it would have shown him with his arm around her. Of course that moment was now only in her memory, a distant day in the so many that had gone by.

The days that had gone by since that day, she remembered those only too well. Setting aside the cases and the time she spent wondering if Conan was Shinichi, which she now knew only too well to be true, those days were spent getting up early in the morning. After getting ready for school, she would look fondly at the picture, which was now on top of the TV, before picking up her cell phone, hoping maybe that day there would be a call from that mystery-loving baka. She would then wake up Conan, make breakfast, and then walk to school with him, though they would have to split up half way. After school she would have two hours of karate practice, only to get home, clean and make dinner for the small family, and only once the kitchen was clean and the office tidied did she finally step into her room again for the first time all day. After looking at the picture on her desk one more time, would she begin the homework, which took about two to three hours on some days.

She had felt so _alone_ with Shinichi gone. No longer were there nights hanging out together doing homework, falling asleep in front of the television watching movies or just _talking_ or _seeing _him at the least. Even if she had still had Sonoko then, she couldn't talk to her in the same way she had with Shinichi.

And now it hurt all over again to find out that he had been next to her since the beginning…. That he had never left in the first place and had watched her suffer all along.

_But if he did love her in the way he said he did during that phone call that fateful day then he must have felt something when they had been together again for that brief moment…_

_Right? _

He had seen how she was everyday and was always quick to throw in some "I'm sure Shinichi-niisan" comment. Worst of all, she didn't even _know_ how it happened, Heiji would not tell her and had only let it slip that Ai was the cause of it and of course was in the same state as Shinichi.

_But why?_

Sitting up from her sleepy position on the couch, she glared daggers at the photo.

Reminding her of such things so early in the morning was not on her most wanted list. Not at all.

She grabbed the photo on the way to the restroom and stopped for a minute as she was about to put it in the hallway storage closet. She took the picture out of its frame and carried it into the bathroom where she taped it to the inside of the medicine cabinet.

Seemed like a good idea at the time.

She didn't think twice about it as she jumped into the shower.

The hot water soothed her skin and pulled away the dead feeling about her. Meditating for a moment on how she had changed in the past few years she was surprised to see a variety of differences. She had grown somewhat more serious and her optimism had faded a bit, not to mention the physical aspects of her growth. Though she hadn't grown more than a couple of inches, her features had sharpened some, her figure had fully matured and with her constant karate practice gave her a very nice look. Of course, that could only make her feel so much better.

What was gnawing at her mind, determined not to loosen its hold on her was the thought of Shinichi. For the past two days she had tried to put it behind her but it wouldn't.

_Maybe it would be better if I just gave in to what my brain doesn't want me to let go of…_ she thought as she lathered the shampoo through her hair.

Thinking back to when Conan… no, _Shinichi_ had held her made her feel _whole_ inside for that all too brief moment.

_If only he had kissed me…_

Frozen for a moment, it didn't take too long after for her to blush red all over.

It was kind of hard not to think about when they had been so close.

There was no getting around it.

She still loved him even if she had tried so hard to set it aside.

Early college summers were spent in America trying to meet people but damn it all that something wasn't right with every single one of them.

And the thing that hadn't been right was that they were not Shinichi.

And she wouldn't give in to anything less than Shinichi.

_Damn it!_

_Boy that felt good._

Feeling ten years younger, renewed, refreshed, and like herself again - she was determined to get what she wanted.

She finished her shower and got dressed.

Once ready for what the day had in store for her it was only when she was happily eating breakfast, basking in her newfound strength, did she think back on the letters that Shinichi had written.

_He had hinted that he had been in some sort of danger…_

_Not wanting to get her involved._

_But what danger could Shinichi have been in that required him to turn into a child?_

**lllll**

Conan hesitantly buckled his seatbelt. Maybe it was because he thought he might be sentencing himself to death. What ever it was he didn't want to look afraid in front of Eri. Showing fear to her was dangerous. She would expose that weakness for every ounce that it was worth. He knew from personal experience and seeing her courtroom cases.

With a sidelong glance as Eri took her seat, shut the door and started the ignition, Shinichi instantly felt as if the temperature rose several degrees… or maybe it was the tension.

The drive wouldn't be too long and maybe that was why Eri skipped the awkward silence.

"I imagine you feel very alone right now, Conan-kun. And if you feel like saying I can't possibly imagine how you feel right now, I'd be very glad if you _would_ tell me."

Shinichi turned a little wide-eyed to the woman driving. She wasn't talking to him like a criminal or a stranger.

But with concern.

Like a mother would for her son.

The smile on Eri's face did not fade a bit as she waited for his reply.

"Um... - You're right," he began, "You could probably not imagine how I feel- to be pulled away from the ones you love, the life and destiny meant for you-

"Sentenced to what seems like an eternity of misery," finished Shinichi.

"It must be hard to live everyday with some hope when the days behind you have been filled with pain."

"Yes, lots of pain… and other things."

"Why don't you tell me about them? To be stranded in youth must have had been fine at sometimes, but at others…."

A silence built for a moment as Shinichi began to think back of all the days gone by.

"One time-" he found it hard for a moment to say _her_ name, "Ran… and I were walking home from a case and she asked me 'Do you think people change? Do hearts grow apart if people are separated?' Of course I replied with what I would always say in those days, 'Shinichi-niisan hasn't changed, I'm sure he's just as you remember him.' And when I looked up into her face as I was telling her not to worry I saw her tears. She said she wished was that I _was_ Shinichi. I was so close to telling her. I _desperately_ wanted to tell her. But I told myself, not until we're all safe. Not until the Black Organization is gone can I tell her. Even if she knows who I am now, it is not because I told her. I told you and Mouri-san because I figured you guys were going to murder me anyway….

"And you guys also know how to handle this kind of secret and I'm not sure how Ran would react to it. And I don't want her to have to react to it… so please don't tell her what I told you..."

"We won't."

"Thank you."

"But you haven't told me how you feel," nudged Eri softly as they came to a stoplight.

"I've felt lost and confused and afraid many times before and I could handle that. But now, I've felt like I've shrunk all over again. The world just can't get enough of making Kudo Shinichi look like a fool…. And heck maybe I deserved it just a bit the first time around. I was so cocky, but to forget that night that there had been two men in black and only one was in front of me… that was a rookie mistake and showed I had a lot to learn. And now…"

Eri held her breath as she saw the body in front of her stiffen and she felt just a little worried for him as his breathing seemed to come to a stand still, as if trying so hard not to lose control.

"Now I maybe one of the biggest fools in the world because I _lost_ her! I might as well have told her to go to hell because she's never gonna want to see or speak to me again! I've been such a fool! I shouldn't have lied and I'm sorry! And what's worse… She doesn't even think I'm _me_ anymore! And I haven't changed one bit! Still the same arrogant cocky idiot as both Kudo Shinichi and Edogawa Conan!"

"**_That is not what you are like now_**," interrupted Eri sternly, "I know Edogawa Conan and if he is also Kudo Shinichi then both are incredibly smart, resourceful and know their limits because they have learned them. And what makes you think that maybe she hasn't learned her limits as well? Realized her full potential? Grown a little bit on the inside? She's not 17 anymore. She's an _adult_, **_just like you_**, and she knows more now as well. Even if she doesn't know about the black organization part about it, don't you think it's possible that maybe she does know that what you have done was for the best? Even if she would rather have known the truth."

Conan thought on that in the back of his head as he continued.

"Had I told her the truth from the beginning then at least we could have talked and that's one of those things I've missed - just talking to her and her calling me Shinichi. Anyone else I knew didn't even care when I disappeared! They all believed I was dead or gone or in a ditch somewhere! No one cared that Kudo Shinichi was gone because the only one who cared was Mouri Ran and now she doesn't _even care!_"

"_And just how do you know Shinichi-kun?_ How do you know she doesn't care? You don't know that the day you were off in London she waited for you to come back. The only reason she left around noon was because she hadn't slept all night. I think she had been in your room all night looking at something…"

Eri looked at him as they came to a stop again. He seemed to have relaxed some though his features were tense.

"So she found them," he replied with a sigh.

"What?"

"Just a few letters I had written to her but never had the nerve to mail. They were in a box in my drawer… In them I explained some things about Conan and me. My hopes and dreams, for me and Ran, that I had dreamed since my first childhood that don't seem like they will ever come true now because it's too late."

The car came to its final stop. On Eri's right was the gate that led into the Kudo mansion.

The lawn in front was over-grown. The house looked large and impressive but empty inside. Just like the eyes of the 'teenage boy' next to her.

Conan moved to open his door but stopped as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Let me just say one more thing before you go Conan-kun. You won't know exactly how Ran feels until you talk to her. If she's read what you wrote then maybe she understands a little better now. But you won't know until you talk to her. Explain yourself and force her to explain herself as well. For all you know maybe she's afraid that she's pushed you away as well…."

"With all respect, even if she did still love me… Kudo Shinichi that is… It wouldn't be safe. Not until _they're_ gone."

"Wait," called out Eri as he opened the door. She grabbed his hand, "Here. So you know… you're not alone."

Conan looked surprised for a second as he stared at the key in his hand and then smiled, "Arigato."

**lll**

**lllll**

**lll**

The now Inspector Takagi Wataru looked around the scene of the crime. The victim, 22 year old Hiroshi Reiko, lay face down on her apartment floor as officers were preparing to put her on a stretcher and send her to the forensic pathologist. An up and coming computer programmer with many friends, she had seemed like the last person who would have been murdered. Of course that was just Takagi's gut feeling talking. On the table next to the chair at the feet of the body was a cyanide pill. Assuming that she had two pills it would be unlikely that she had stood up from her chair knowing she was going to die. And it would be awhile before they would be sure of what killed her.

Because the time of death had been decided on as sometime between one and two o'clock in the morning it was plausible that the almond smell in her mouth that would indicate if she had died of cyanide poisoning would have dissipated.

Neighbors had reported her having two visitors before midnight. They arrived separately but had left together well before she died. Worst yet no one knew them and they were not any of the contacts she had listed in the phone book or her fiancé who discovered the body.

It would end up being one of the strangest cases Takagi had ever seen but he had seen stranger things in his day.

One of them being Edogawa Conan.

He and the young man still worked a lot together on cases but ever since Ran had left to America, even after she had returned, the child genius, now teen, was so unfocused. Of course, then it hadn't taken many words to Yumi who was well in touch with Suzuki Sonoko, Ran-chan's best friend, to find out what had happened early on.

Kudo Shinichi had called Ran and told her that he loved her but that he would never return.

Which had set Takagi's own ideas going off on their direction, and it wasn't long after his engagement to Sato did he know the truth.

Funny that all it took was comparing the fingerprints of Conan and Shinichi to discover that they were the same person.

Not that Conan knew he knew. Takagi had never told him and probably never would unless the time came up.

And in seven or so years the time had not come up.

Maybe it would stay that way…

Of course that hadn't kept his imagination from dying several times of curiosity as to why and how Shinichi had been shrunk into little Conan in the first place and why he couldn't come back….

Even if the answer might be obvious.

Inspector Sato Miwako raised an eyebrow as Takagi got his phone out of his pocket and called Conan. She could have easily told him that he was not answering and that to invite the Teenaged-Shonen Tantei was out of the question.

She looked back at her notebook looking over the details of the case.

It was the neighbor from the apartment across who had the best look at the visitors Reiko had had around midnight.

She could clearly see two men, arriving separately of course, dressed in black suits, wearing hats. The first had a square jaw and short dark hair with the shots of gray in it. The second one had long silver hair and had been smoking a cigarette.

She had been looking out of her peephole because each had knocked so abruptly she thought that they had been knocking on her door. These descriptions were confirmed with Reiko's next door neighbor who had a mirror across the hall of her peephole.

If the girl was murdered it was the visitors who were the ones responsible the neighbor had stated. Of course, the old woman from across the hall did also mention that the computer programmer had just had a terrible bout of the flu. She said it had been known that the flu could leave one feeling depressed.

_In an Agatha Christie novel maybe... _

The busybody from across the hall also was able to provide them the time the men had left, 12:30 am – she had doubly made sure of it.

Takagi chalked up the woman's behavior to being old and alone. And from what Takagi had gathered, Reiko would have been the type of girl to befriend, or at least humor, the old lady.

But after a fine dusting of the entire apartment no other prints besides Reiko's and those of her regular friends were found, all of which had had an alibi for that night.

And the time of death and the time the mystery suspects left just wasn't matching up. After all, you'd have to be pretty darn confident of your poison to leave someone to die. Otherwise you'd find yourself legally screwed the moment they're better.

"Let's keep the area closed off until we can get the rest of the team down here!" called out Takagi.

"Inspector Takagi?" called out a voice.

Both Sato and Takagi looked over to the door.

"Ran-chan?" asked Takagi not quite believing his eyes.

It was a teenage girl turned woman. He hadn't seen her consistently enough to witness her change and that was the thing that surprised him some. She did not look all that much older or different. In fact, it had only been her hairstyle and clothes that made her appear, at first glance, a little older. No longer did she wear a mini skirt but a fitted one above her knee with a pair of heels. The collared shirt wasn't buttoned to the top like her old school uniform but open. Her hair was softly twisted into a hair clip and she wore some light makeup. But underneath that, the smile and the twinkle in her eyes were the same.

_And Kudo Shinichi can't come back to appreciate this…_

…_my almost little sister all grown up._

"What are you doing here?" asked Sato.

"I was just on my way out when I noticed all the police in the hall."

"You live in this building?" asked Takagi amazed.

"Yes, I just moved in a few days ago. This hall wraps around the entire floor. Mine is just on the other side but they only put in one elevator and its just two doors over from this apartment."

"You must have inherited your father's curse of murders following him," joked Sato.

"It was probably Conan that they were following," commented Takagi, "But you wouldn't be able to contact Conan would you? He isn't answering right now and his input on this case would probably help."

Takagi, of course, was unaware of what had happened between the two and whether Ran was aware of the fact that Conan and Shinichi were the same person.

Her answer would have certainly given him a big hint.

"Oh! He's moving out of the agency today so he's busy," even Ran surprised herself at how calmly she said the words, "But how about I help you out?"

"Really?" smiled Takagi in relief. Even if he was unsure now of the truth of the "Sleeping Kogoro," Ran's mother's reputation certainly counted.

"So what happened?" asked Ran as she put down her purse by the door, and slipped on some latex gloves.

Takagi smiled as she began looking around the room.

"The deceased is Hiroshi Reiko, computer programmer, age 22," he began as Ran bent over the spot where the body had lain, "We found a cyanide pill on the table and are awaiting confirmation, it'll be little while."

"So you believe it's a suicide?"

"Well that's where we're getting stuck. Her prints are on the pill but we can't find a suicide note. In fact she just became engaged two days ago. The computer is currently being searched for anything that looks suicidal."

"Then currently you're exploring the possibility that she was murdered?"

"Possibly, cyanide causes suffocation and an extreme amount of pain," commented Sato.

"Do you have any suspects?"

"Maybe. Witnesses say two men came by last night before midnight but definitely left before she died."

"And what did they look like? Do you have their names?" asked Ran as she inspected the table.

"No names. However, we do have a description of them…" Takagi flipped the pages of his notebook, "Two men in black. The first came by approximately at 11:35 pm. Stocky but tall, short dark hair with streaks of gray in it. The second one arrived a while after and was tall with long hair dyed silver."

Ran stopped looking at the chair that it was assumed the victim had been sitting in up until they died when she heard the words "long hair dyed silver." The memory of a foreign city came up. A story she hadn't thought of in a long time…

Takagi went on giving facts of the case when she continued moving around the room. Next to the TV she noted the western in the VCR.

She looked at the sofa opposite of the chair near the body. If one had silver long hair it would be likely that some stands would have fallen.

"Inspector Takagi, has the floor been checked for hair or fibers from the guests who were here?"

"Yes, the samples are being looked at now in the tent downstairs," he looked at his watch, "They should be about done now…"

"Oh then could we go downstairs and look?"

"Sure," Takagi turned to Sato, "We'll be back in a minute all right."

"Uh hum," said Sato as she down the hall to the bedrooms.

Ran took off one glove as they went down the hall into the elevator.

"I heard you graduated from Law School," began Takagi.

"Oh yes!"

"So where are you going to be working at?"

"Well I'm already kind of working at the Kisaki Law Firm, except now I'll actually get paid and be able to handle more profiled cases."

"Wow, are you excited?"

"Uh huh. It definitely beats working around dead people."

"That's really great. I'm glad you're set for something you like doing."

"Uh hum."

Their conversation continued until they reached the lobby and headed out to the police tents set up in the parking lot.

"Chiba!"

"Oi, Takagi how's the investigation going on up stairs?"

"Terrible, it reeks of a cover-up but we can't crack it. So what's the situation with the hair?"

"Ah, a few of the victim's hairs but none of the unknown ones are silver or matching up with the age estimate given by the witnesses."

"Ummm, how's the fiancé taking it?"

"Not well, he was administered a sedative to calm him down. He's given his statement. We have officers contacting the people in her address book, the paper one and the ones on her cell phone. We're also awaiting the release of her bill statements so that we can see if there's anyone suspicious who we can't currently get in touch with."

"Did the fiancé state if she had any enemies or rivals?" asked Ran.

"No she seemed to be leading a very successful, outgoing life. Enjoyed her work and was doing well," replied Chiba.

"Ah, well thank you Chiba. See you in a bit," said Takagi as he led Ran away back into the building.

"Her death does seem too sudden…" said Ran once they were in the elevator again.

"Yes…"

They had only stepped out of the elevator when the pair was rushed by an officer.

"Inspector!" called one officer who had been waiting by the door, "The preliminary autopsy results just came in!"

Takagi and Ran met the officer halfway when they were joined by Sato.

"The preliminary tests on the spleen do not indicate that she ingested any cyanide. And then on top of that the tests on the blood work using chromatography showed nothing unusual," he said as handed Takagi the report.

"She's perfectly healthy… except that she's – well – dead," remarked Sato looking at the sheet.

"No other marks or abnormalities on the body…"

"Look at the note at the bottom!" pointed out Ran.

" 'Cause of death by unknown substance or unknown. Ruled as suicide or accidental death.' " read out Takagi.

"But… can I see your notes Sato-keibu, Takagi-keibu?"

Both handed over the small notebooks and Ran stood to the side looking at the notes.

If it were a suicide, why did the victim stand when taking the poison?

And what person commits suicide after they had visitors, so late at night? They must have known her very well to have known they would be welcome so late.

Unless they killed her… and the time of death was after they left…

But that would be a very specific poison… there aren't very many that take that much time to work…

But that would have shown up in the blood work…

And there was nothing.

"Inspector Sato!" called out a voice from inside the apartment.

Ran looked up and joined Sato and Takagi as they headed in that direction. Inside the main bedroom two computer specialists were in front of the victim's computer.

"We found what may have been part of her suicide entry."

Ran looked over their shoulders to read.

The date the document read, "Early morning, 12:38 AM."

"_It has been difficult for me to continue living in this way. Good-bye."_

"That's all?" asked Takagi.

"From what we can do here, yes."

"Pack it up and send it to be examined further at the lab," ordered Sato.

"Hai!"

"It seems as if the case has been mostly closed," commented Ran as they walked out of the room.

"But I was so sure it was a murder!"

"But it couldn't, the guests left before 12:30, and the time of death occurred between one and two," said Sato.

"Yes, but it is strange that they could not determine what killed her… is it possible that they administered some type of poison that couldn't be detected?"

"Impossible, no such poison like that could exist," remarked Takagi but then when he saw their expressions, "Or maybe they made one..."

Ran looked at her watch, "Oh no! I've been here for over an hour and the Kudos said they'd be over at three!"

"The Kudos? Well it's already past one," said Takagi glancing at his watch.

"Ah I have to get going! I'm sorry I wasn't able to help much!"

"What are you talking about Ran-chan? You did great! It was good seeing you," said Sato.

"Yes and good luck working as a lawyer."

"Ah, thank you," said Ran as she took off her gloves, slipped into her heels and grabbed her purse, "Good-bye!"

"Bye!" they called out after her.

**lllll**

Shinichi waved good-bye to Eri once they were done unloading his stuff from the car. They hadn't talked of anything serious after that but he answered some of her questions about when he was a child and some of his more dangerous escapades.

"_So what did happen to Rena in the end?"_

"_Well she… she's still alive far away but… the way the organization works… well that didn't bode too well for her family. They usually use one or the entire family as motivation to make them work or to not betray the organization and if that's not enough then both die."_

"_And since she had been caught by the FBI… I see. So is the FBI is still here in Japan?"_

"_Oh they're still around. Tokyo mainly but I heard from Miss Jodie that they are also in Tottori county investigating. And I tipped them off to that. Many crime syndicates are based there so it wouldn't be surprising if there were one that linked them all together."_

"_So why haven't you gone to Tottori?" asked Eri. _

"_Because I know the leader must move around every so often. It would be unlikely that he would still be in Tottori but rather still use the number with that area code and be somewhere else in Japan."_

"_And what will you do now that you've moved back here? Will you continue going to school and continue masquerading as Edogawa Conan?"_

"_I've realized now that I'm both people. Conan is Shinichi just as much as Shinichi is Conan… It's kind of odd but it's best if I don't think about it. It gets confusing otherwise… There was a time that I was hoping that Ran and I would go to America for college. But she's done with that. I imagine she'll be working with you now… No. I don't believe that being Conan would help very much. Too many people know who I am so my secret identity is shot… right now I don't know what I'll do. You're all in danger now if anything happens. Should they come knocking on your doors there is no way for you all to lie with a straight face and say that you do not know where Kudo Shinichi is…"_

As he stood outside of his gate, those words were ringing in his ears in the early afternoon sun as he watched Eri's car turn around the curb.

He looked at the house behind him.

It felt oddly foreign to him now, as if he didn't belong there because it was not his home. His home had been the detective agency for the longest time and it seemed almost impossible to believe that he had any right to the house behind him. In name and paper it was his but it felt wrong just to have it given to him.

He had worked hard to make the detective agency his home. Putting up and getting along with Mouri, and then with Eri when she moved back in. With no one else living in the Kudo mansion his existence seemed even more contemptible than usual.

Here it really seemed as if there was no one for him.

Fishing out the key in his pocket Shinichi smiled some, though it would be a melancholy one if anything. The gesture was greatly appreciated but could not be acted on.

He had shown enough emotion for one day.

**lllll**

Ran looked at her watch as she walked out of the grocery store.

_Still enough time._

The streets of Beika, though always crowded, were bright that day and it seemed so nice to be out and about.

As she crossed the street, she noticed a street magician performing.

He seemed to have noticed her as well.

"Miss! Miss!" he called out in English to her.

She stopped and looked at him. He looked Japanese enough but why was he speaking in English?

"Pick a card please?" as he held out the deck to her.

"All right," she replied hesitantly in English.

She stopped as she looked at the message on the card written in English.

"_The Ace of Spades exists for all_

_With many allies on constant call._

_The Queen of Hearts has his heart_

_The joker owes him a mounting debt_

_Ace owes joker a long head start._

_If you are her then I'm the sham_

_A magician working for the court."_

Ran looked up at him surprised that without the sunglasses on he had amazing deep blue eyes that held the twinkle of mischief. And without the hat he looked very much like a younger Yusaku, the one she had seen in pictures, or possibly what Shinichi would look like if he were her age…

Then she remembered the young male nurse from years ago… after a certain plane landing...

"Kid the Phantom Thief," she whispered in English.

"At your service madam. Feel free," he handed her yet another card, "to contact me.

"Until again."

Ran looked down at the card in her hand.

**_Kuroba – Magician_**

A phone number that seemed to disappear into the paper was on the back.

When she looked back up, she wasn't too surprised to find that he had disappeared into the crowd.

But she couldn't even to begin to fathom as to why the Kaitou Kid would want to help her…

**lllll**

Clearly he had forgotten exactly how bright Tokyo was in the summer. Finding his sunglasses from his travel bag, Kudo Yusaku put them on as he exited the taxi with his wife.

The taxi driver began to unload the luggage; needless to say it was a lot.

The gate was locked, but the house's face was marked by the open windows of the upper floors of the house, including the large window in Shinichi's room.

The house seemed brighter, despite its overgrown lawn, peeling paint and the chipped and faded nameplate that told everyone just whose house this was.

The air seemed to have breathed life into it.

But there was still no sign that anyone lived there.

And if Shinichi were home as he had told them he would be, he would have come out and greeted his parents by now.

Yusaku kept his worried expression in check as he unlocked the gate and opened it so that they could step in.

The large front door was locked as well, and by now it did not surprise him.

"Shinichi?" called out Yukiko as she slipped off her shoes and wandered farther into the house they had not inhabited for years. It would be too late now to regret leaving Japan but Yukiko could not help it. Besides whisking off Shinichi to Los Angeles, they had not considered their other option, to stay in Tokyo and help him, be there for him.

But it was too late for that now. Shinichi was almost grown again and too old now to accept his parents help. And maybe that was just their fault, trying too hard to stay young.

Yukiko made her way through the kitchen, calmly noting the two glasses that seemed to have held water, one with a faint lipstick of a very familiar color.

"Eri was here," commented Yukiko.

"And that means so was Shinichi."

"Shinichi," called Yukiko up the stairs once again, nervousness creeping into her voice.

Yusaku looked into the living room; a couple of boxes were in the corner covered by a blanket.

Yukiko went up the stairs running. She didn't care how old he was, when she wanted to know where her son was, damn it, she wanted to know!

"Shinichi?" she asked as she opened his door, hoping to find her son asleep.

But not gone.

Never gone.

His traveling suitcase was gone from its old spot in the closet as well as some of his clothes. Of course, most of his "Conan" clothes were gone too.

Yusaku stepped in, silent, already knowing.

Knowing his wife would be near tears, sitting on the bed hoping to get through to Shinichi by telephone.

What Yusaku hadn't expected was to find that Shinichi's cell phone had already been cancelled already.

"How could he do this! He knew we were coming!"

"It must have been something he decided on the last minute."

"But I talked to him. I told him we would help him fix this!"

Yusaku looked around the room. If Shinichi left a note, it would be in here.

And yes there it was, on top of homework from years ago, the single page that they would hope would explain.

All it did, however, was confirm what they knew about their son who had been cursed – that he solved his problems for himself.

At least, he promised, he would be in touch with them soon.

**lllll**

**lll**

**lllll**

**-**Earlier-

Akai Shuichi was not very pleased to be in Japan. It had been a long time that he had tracked his "new" assignment. It was getting to be repetitive.

The Black Org, though very active in Japan, was the hardest to trace there.

The FBI had already shut down large portions in other countries but the job would not be complete until the boss was taken down...

And he was proving to be a hard man to follow…

Not to mention that that wench Vermouth was no walk in the park to find either.

He stopped his car in front of the apartment complex of their latest victim. He lit a cigarette and waited. It had been a long while since the police had arrived; the majority of them had already left. The tents were being taken down. Police vans were starting to drive away.

His eyes stopped on the young woman in her mid-twenties walking into the apartment complex, a key in her hand.

It was almost like watching a ghost walk by but he knew fully well who she was.

_Mouri Ran_…_ we meet again… maybe this time you'll know why I am here…_

He started the car again and drove off just as his cell phone began to ring.

**lllll**

**lll**

**lllll**

Ran looked at Shinichi's parents as they sat down on the couch across from her chair. She had poured them tea and was waiting. It would be likely that they would want to go first in this.

But that was a few minutes ago, and something was clearly bothering them.

Something had happened.

She decided not to touch that subject and asked them how their flight had been.

"Oh!" Yukiko looked up and smiled, "Well to be technical about it we've been on more planes than exist."

"That's right," agreed Yusaku, "I've gotten the same seat with the gum stuck in the pouch under it twice."

"Really?" asked Ran mildly interested, "I thought you only took First Class seats."

"Well we used to, but lately Yusaku's been lazy on his writing so I figured we could rough it for awhile," laughed Yukiko.

"I have not been lazy on my writing," Yukiko opened her mouth, planning to interrupt, "And don't say that I've got writer's block. I've had this planned out for years. It goes the way it has been going to see who's really dedicated to the story to see past that. And those will be the ones who will know what comes next."

"That's just a fancy way of saying it's getting predictable," whispered Yukiko to Ran.

Ran giggled and stopped as she caught Yusaku frowning at Yukiko.

"Well then, where have you been going lately?" Ran asked pulling the conversation away from Yusaku's not so up to par novels.

Ran, of course, had not expected the explosion of conversation that occurred. Suddenly she was being told of their adventures in Tijuana with corrupt policemen, Canada and how much they hate Americans posing as Canadians, the fashion streets in Rome, the business sectors in Hong Kong, the drug markets in the Middle East, the Black Market in Los Angeles, and the sample sales in New York.

Obviously, Yukiko was telling most of the stories.

It was funny because then Ran began telling them how much she had liked America and was telling her stories with them asking if she had done this or that on her road trip with some of her girlfriends across the country for the first part of one summer. It had been the idea of her roommate who had been telling Ran to 'get out there' all year to do something, and naturally figured a flight from New York to LA and then connecting to Japan was a bit too much.

But then Yukiko slipped and said "Shinichi loved the Painted Desert too."

And that threw everyone off.

Ran took a deep breath while she looked down at the now cold tea in her cup.

"So how is he?"

Yukiko looked at Yusaku unsure of what to say.

"He left."

Ran looked up into Yusaku's eyes, "What?"

"Yes," stepped in Yukiko, "We called Eri-san after we came home and found him gone. She said she had left him at the house around noon. We got there around one and he was already gone. We don't know where he went and he's already disconnected his cell phone so we can't get in touch with him."

"But he didn't leave anything... not even a note?"

Both of the Kudos shook their heads.

"But why? That's not like Shinichi! He doesn't just _leave_!"

Yukiko and Yusaku looked at Ran surprised at the conviction with which she was saying her words.

"Umm... Ran-chan? You do remember he told you that he left to go solve a complicated case all through that last part of high school right?"

Ran threw Yukiko a look, "Of course I do but that was different! He never really left then. In fact, there were several times that I was sure Conan was Shinichi. But this... this time he's _really_ gone cause it's not as if any of us don't know where he is."

Yukiko put her hand on Ran's knee, "Ran-chan, I'm sure he'll be in touch with us soon and as so-"

"No!"

Ran was startled at herself with her outburst.

"He shouldn't have left," she began quietly, unsure of just what was making her speak, "He has... so many people here, who care about him, no matter what's happened... and he always ignores us! Or doesn't think we can't be trusted to know what he knows! Keeping it one big secret! Thinking it'll all work itself out by whatever plan he's going on... alone."

Yusaku cleared his throat, "Like I said, he won't ask for help until he comes crying sure he's done all he could do..."

Ran looked at Yusaku astounded, "How can you say something like that?"

"Because it's true. He's as stubborn as a mule and over-confident of his abilities. Of course, most mules don't try standing on one leg... Already it's cost hi-"

He broke off, knowing he had said too much...

"We're sorry Ran-chan," began Yukiko feigning a smile, "It's just that this has really caught us off guard. As it was we were getting worried..."

"I understand where you're coming from... but it's not right to let him do things as he wants."

"When he calls, we'll tell you," said Yusaku and after a few minutes was able to move on to ask Ran what she had been up to in the way of a career.

"We'll I've graduated from law school-"

"At the top of her class," input Yukiko.

"Well congratulations Ran-san."

"Thank you -"

"I expect you'll be working with your mother?" asked Yusaku.

"Ah – yes, I have been interning for a long time before but now I finally get to handle the cases so it'll be a lot more work... Speaking of cases, there was a strange one just down the hall today."

She then proceeded to tell them all about the case earlier and the conclusions that Inspectors Takagi and Sato had come up with even though it had been a very _mysterious_ case.

"So let me get this straight, it seemed initially that she was poisoned, which she was, but the autopsy couldn't figure out what she was poisoned with or whether it was a suicide or not until the investigators found the partial suicide note on the computer?"

Ran nodded at Yukiko, "It was really odd, I had always thought that all poisons showed up in the autopsy. And though we don't know who her visitors were last night we can't automatically suspect them of murder as she died well after they left..."

Yusaku sat back in his seat and thought of what Ran told him.

_She's come very close to them... it would be very dangerous if she continued investigating this... and this sounds very much like the poison that turned Shinichi into Conan years ago... odd that they haven't discovered it's side effect in the last eight years..._

"Sounds like a suicide Ran–san, she probably mixed together some chemicals from under the sink that combined in an organic fashion so that they'd be unrecognizable when examined."

"That sounds logical I suppose..."

Yukiko looked at her watch, "Oh my! It's already five! We're so sorry Ran-chan but we have to get going!" she then smiled sheepishly, winking, "We're having dinner tonight with some old friends."

"Oh don't worry about it, I'm glad I was able to see you too. It's so rare that you're here."

"Well we'll be around more often Ran-san, seems as if the world has become too small for us. Tokyo is looking better than ever."

Ran frowned at Yusaku's cryptic message.

"All right, well good bye Ran-chan," Yukiko kissed Ran on the cheek good-bye and squeezed her tightly, a sign of hope.

She shook hands with Yusaku and with the final bows and good-bye's the apartment was empty.

Ran sat back down on the couch and turned on the TV.

Tomorrow she'd go back to work, better that she didn't let her mind wander on about that foolish detective she was waiting for.

**lllll**

-Earlier but catching up to our current place in time-

The street magician that had approached Ran was now on his way home. It was a rather cramped apartment but considering that he was only there when he slept, it didn't bother him too much. Being outside was what he liked best anyway.

Returning midday to "the camp out" as he sometimes referred to it was odd, he had had to call all his employers and tell them he would not be coming in today, especially when there was so much to learn as to what was going on.

How wonderful was it that listening devices, extremely powerful ones even, so he didn't just get pocket static, were now as thin as a business card?

He laughed as he heard Yukiko's reasoning for them taking less than first class seats.

_No wonder the Night Baron plots have been getting a bit thin..._

He froze as he heard her explain as to what she had done that day.

Completely and utterly amazed.

How was it in the five years that had gone by that it would be she who met them first?

_Kudo's gonna flip when he hears this… especially when she puts it all together…_

It would become very dangerous for her when she did.

He dialed the carefully memorized number into his cell phone. The computerized sounds of the operator echoed in his ear. He looked at the number he had dialed to make sure it was correct. Not that he was unsure in the first place.

Frowning, he turned back to listening to the conversation Ran was having. It didn't seem as if anything that was too important would be mentioned anymore. Honestly they were talking about dinner plans now.

He slipped off the earphones and rubbed his warm ear trying to cool it. What did this mean? How could Kudo have turned coward and ran for it? It made no sense.

Of course this would not release Kaito from his promise. He paid his debts. He couldn't just take what Shinichi had done for him without paying it back.

Not after all he had done for him when… well it was best not to dwell on old memories.

Even if Kudo had not asked for it, Kaito knew he would like to know... just like he did.

But for now there was Hattori to call, maybe he had heard from Kudo...

But first-

_Ring! Ring!_

_Ring! Ring!_

"Moshi moshi? Hakuba Saguru speaking."

"Hey Guru-chan!"

"Don't call me Guru-chan."

"Why? I like it!"

"Well that may very well be true but I don't and I think Kozumi-kun would not appreciate you speaking to me in such a familiar way if you catch my drift."

"Yeah, yeah, did you call her? Don't answer that. Anyway I think you and Ai-kun might want to come back to Japan soon. Looks like things are heating up... In fact we just might a new addition to the group soon..."

**lllll**

**lll**

**lllll**

Sato-keibu sat at her desk writing up the report for the case.

It was hard work.

At least when most of the department was getting off early and all were asking her if she wanted to go out and join them for Karaoke.

Even if she was married, and they had all been at her wedding, they all seemed to have forgotten it. Her mother told her to change her name...

"I'd really love to guys but this report has to be done and it's going to take some time okay?"

"Aww, what's so hard Sato-san," began one of the officers, "It's suicide, open and shut."

"I just want to make sure we didn't miss anything, that's all."

Eventually all got the message and soon it was just her and Takagi working on it.

"It feels so wrong. We don't even know about the two men that came to her apartment last night!

"Exactly," agreed Takagi, "And how can the coroner still not know what exactly made her die?"

"What, what, what?"

The inspectors looked up at the now Chief of Police that was looking over their shoulders looking as if he wanted to ask why the heck were they investigating a suicide...

Soon the co-inspectors were explaining to Megure the case that had happened that day. That they ran into Mouri Ran – that part of the conversation took many turns; Megure couldn't help to ask if any news of Kudo Shinichi came up (he'd always been hoping the case solving machine would return to the Beika precinct). But once everything had been explained he suggested that perhaps they look into some past police files to see if anything like this had ever turned up...

Sato picked up the phone and in seconds was speaking to Ran-san, but Megure didn't pay too much attention – he had a dinner to get to...

**lllll**

Hattori Heiji sat at the dinner table across from his wife.

Things had been just a _tad_ shaky over the past couple of days, to say the least. He had been forced to explain the long held secret of Conan's past, what happened to Shinichi, and why Ran had not been informed of much of this. That had turned into a blow up of itself.

"_She could have been in danger so many times and could have been oblivious to it!" _

The rant had been long but the point constant; Ran should know the whole truth, not just the obvious.

But Kazuha acquiesced and agreed not to tell Ran... the reasons for secrecy sufficed.

Heiji caught Kazuha giving him a sidelong glance just before she looked back down at her plate, the food barely touched.

"You need to eat," declared Heiji while he looked back down at his own plate.

Kazuha looked up at him and pursed her lips, "Don't tell me what to do."

Nonetheless, she spent the next minute polishing off the beef stew on her plate.

Seconds later she was up, placing her plate into the sink and heading over to get back to her work on the computer. She had majored in English in college and was now working for a publishing company. Fortunately, much of her work could be done from home so the often-dreaded "maternity leave" for many of the women in the work force would barely affect her.

Heiji sighed as the typing on the computer fell into a steady rhythm. That was how it had been. Kazuha didn't seem to want to talk to him at all. He had barely even gotten in a few sentences about the baby.

The vibrations and rings coming from his pocket soon caught his attention.

"Moshi, moshi," said Heiji as he answered the phone.

"Hattori! How ya been? Heard about a baby on the way, congratulations to you and Kazuha-san!"

"Kuroba... should have guessed. How the heck did you hear that Kazuha was pregnant?"

"Ran-chan was telling Shinichi's parents."

"I take it you weren't in the room physically were you?"

"You got me there, but I can't reveal all my secrets," Heiji swore Kaito's grin was audible over the phone.

"Make it quick Kuroba. My time can't be wasted on foolish thieves."

"I'm hurt. And just when I was about to tell you some of the latest information on one in our group."

Heiji rolled his eyes, Kuroba could never be direct could he? "Spill it."

"Shinichi-kun moved out of the Mouri's house. Looks like they know now, more than Ran does any-"

"He told them about them!"

"Seems like it... anyway Shinichi-kun is MIA. Cell-phone, e-mail, wire, smoke signal. He is unavailable or unwilling to answer."

"That is odd... who was the last one who heard from him?"

"Took some talking but looks like it was Dr. Agasa."

**lllll**

…

KABOOM!

…

As dust cleared and voices called out to each other; one in worry, the other in assurance, it became apparent that Agasa was not taking the news he had received around noon very well.

He hadn't blown up anything in years. It was an insult to his name now.

But that might have been his ego talking...

"I'm all right Fusae!" he called up from his workspace.

"Are you sure?" she called back down.

"Yeah!"

He still lived next to the Kudo mansion and so he was a little surprised when that morning, around ten, he had seen Eri-san and Shinichi parking and unpacking some boxes.

He had been further disturbed when Eri left Shinichi behind.

Much to his curiosity's gratitude, Shinichi came over and talked with him a bit.

Fusae had served tea and chatted with the two of them for a bit before excusing herself, she did have purses and fashion accessories to design after all.

She always seemed to do that, even when Agasa had come close to telling her everything, ready to invite her into the dangerous world of taking down the black org, which had come to a stand still already by then, she had stopped him and told him…

"_You don't have to explain anything to me. If you've kept secrets from me that won't change our relationship in anyway there's no reason to bring them up. After all, if it's not broken there's no need to fix it."_

And after her smile – well - Agasa wasn't going to exactly contradict her and so he kept his silence.

But she was very smart, after all, she had figured out that whatever was going on had to do with the boy who over the years had continually visited less and less. Going from adventures everyday to twice a week… to once a month and then to once in a blue moon.

Agasa did not have the greatest memory, he knew that for a long time, so it was no surprise as he tried going back over the conversation that there were a few blank spots.

But he did remember the main points of what Shinichi had said.

Ran had found out. Kazuha had cornered him. Kogoro was kicking him out. Eri had been so understanding. Hattori gave him a lecture. Ai and Hakuba, both well by the way, hadn't helped him. Kaito was a pain in the neck (Shinichi used a stronger word). And he was just tired of it.

All of it.

The fact that the case hadn't moved forward in **_five_** years was just a tad annoying.

It was as if Kudo Shinichi and Shiho Miyano had been dropped from the Black Org's most wanted list.

And it wasn't as if there would ever be a cure. Even if Haibara had told him long before she left that she would continue looking… that with improving technology and research there could be a breakthrough someday.

Bullshit, that was Shinichi ranting. If anything, someone would discover how to make people younger without having the chance of death.

More false hope and frankly Shinichi hadn't been interested in it then.

Agasa, then mistakenly, told Shinichi that maybe what he needed was a vacation. A while to get away, get himself back together.

Shinichi then admitted that he had been thinking of that himself. Thanked Agasa for tea, said good-bye to Fusae and headed out the door.

And that had made Agasa worry.

Since when did Holmes agree with Watson?

Knowing Shinichi, as tired and as desperate as he was, he would try to draw attention to himself as a detective again… make himself a target.

End up almost dying again.

**KABOOM!**

_  
Maybe one should not mix volatile substances when in a nervous state…_

The phone ringing pulled away the hard wrinkle of concentration on his forehead.

"Moshi, moshi."

"Agasa-hakase?"

"Oh, Ayumi-chan! How can I help you?"

"Have you heard from Conan-kun? He was supposed to meet us at the mall yesterday but he didn't show and today we've all been calling him to see where he's at but he wasn't answering and now his phone number is saying that it was disconnected and we're all worried about him!

She said this all very fast.

"Ah, Ayumi-chan, he's fine. He was here a while ago but he said something about taking a vacation to see his parents abroad. I'm sure when he'll to you guys soon."

"All right then…call me if he calls you."

"I will. You take care now… uh-huh… all right – bye… uh hum – bye."

Agasa hung up with a sigh as he thought of how Ran acted when Shinichi had first "disappeared." Of course, Ayumi was not Conan's "Ran," merely the representative of the local High School Detective Group.

That and the only other difference was that this time even he did not know where Shinichi was.

**lllll**

Yusaku and Yukiko sat down at the Del Rey Restaurant at the top of the New Beika Hotel. Their guests sat down around the round table partaking in the drinks and conversation. Clockwise from Yusaku were Megure and a couple of other officers, one of them being Shiratori. Also joining the police and the most reclusive famous couple in Japan was the other most famous couple in Tokyo, the Queen of the Courtroom Kisaki Eri and her husband the still famous detective Mouri Kogoro.

"To good mystery books, stupid murderers and the people who solve them," said Yukiko as she raised her glass.

"Here here!"

Kogoro gulped down the glass, "Ahh! Wine is better when it's given a chance to breath!"

Eri looked over at her husband exasperated.

"Oh Eri! Don't be like that, just be happy your husband isn't arrogant over every piece of newspaper or magazine literature that mentions him!"

Yusaku threw his wife a look and then turned to the Kogoro, "I envy you. I imagine Kisaki-san doesn't require nearly as much maintenance as Yukiko does."

Now it was Yukiko's turn to look at her husband irritated.

"But anyway," Yusaku glossed over his wife's tantrum, "May I give you both my congratulations in regard of Ran's graduation from law school."

"Thank you," replied the two.

"Oh yeah, congratulations," said Megure, "I heard of her graduating from Takagi-kun, apparently Ran lives in the apartment building where he was investigating a case today?"

"Was it a murder?" asked Eri concerned.

"Oh Ran-san was telling us about the case while we were there. I don't think it was a murder."

"Did she Yusaku-kun? When I left the station Takagi-kun and Sato-kun were just about to invite her to look at police files, see if there are any previous cases that might have been similar to this."

"May I ask about the particulars of the case?" asked Kogoro.

"Two witnesses, neighbors of the now late Hiroshi Reiko, saw two men enter her apartment late last night," started Shiratori, reading from his notebook, "They left before the time of death and are unidentified as of this moment. The only known features about them are that one had long silver hair and both were wearing black."

Four people at the table simultaneously exclaimed "Black!"

And then proceeded to look at each other.

**lllll**

At first it seemed, with the number of records they would be looking at it would be impossible to find something. Despite the fact that they were living in the so-called computer age, there was nothing in the process of filing police records that was digital.

Sato guessed that chances were that they wouldn't need to go any further back than ten years. And so they started, knowing it was going to be a long night.

Page after page of data they were going through.

Takagi despised police reports. It was the one part of the job that he hated. The rest he loved – solving cases, nabbing the murderer and bringing him to justice. He hated police reports also because he recalled not being able to accompany Miwako on many a case because of the damn things.

Miwako on the other hand loved police reports. Writing them was so easy, honestly she didn't see why Wataru dumped them on his rookie partner/assistant when ever he could. And when it came to reading them! She loved reading them. Page after page of information, some of them not as great as it should be of course...

Ran didn't have a real opinion on police reports. She had read them in college and law school and for her it was work.

And that meant this was work as well.

Except this work wasn't going to give her a grade but knowledge.

The first couple of year's worth of cases didn't have any case that shared any similarities to that day's case. There were a few that mentioned a suspect or two, unidentified in black. Ran set those aside, even if she knew there was no proof that those mentioned were the very same men of today's case.

One hour, two hours went by and finally there was one.

"Hayashi Jinko. Found dead at his residence. Suicide. Cause of death unknown. Dated 1995," read Takagi.

"Let me see that," said Sato just as he was handing it to her.

After looking it over, she frowned at it frustrated, "There's no name on it as to who wrote it! It's signed and approved by then Captain Matsumoto but there's nothing else!"

"Well now we know what to look for," started Ran, "Police files with no names but signed and approved by the captain and files that declare a death as a suicide but the causes of death are unknown."

Round two began and the hours seemed to slip by faster and faster.

Then coffee famine around hour three just might have had them if they had not come across two more reports.

What began as a small pile began to grow, slowly of course but it was there.

"But what does this all mean? Who wrote these? Why?"

"One thing's for sure – you wouldn't know these were here unless you knew what to look for," commented Takagi.

"And now, do you know what you've found?"

Takagi, Sato and Ran looked over at the doorway, the direction the voice had come from - to see a blond-haired woman from the past.

**lllll**

**lll**

**lllll**

AN: The lyrics at the top are loosely based on a traditional English ballad by the title of "The Three Ravens." I am very very very sorry that this part has taken so long to come out. I apologize to all readers but I do hope that you are pleased with the new chapter. Technically it only covered a day but what an important day it was! Thank you for reading and please review. I will really try to get the next one out within the year – but think of it this way – I've got three years of stuff to go through so it's not going to be uneventful. I can already guarantee you that whatever happened with Kaito is up first... Till Again!


	3. What Is The End?

Author's note: "lll" are purely for organizational purposes. "lllll" mean a time change or shift. _Italics_ are thoughts or emphasis (the latter will be of course in quotes)._**Bold italics**_ mean heavy emphasis.

**lllll**

_My hopes are just like dreams, _

_Disappearing when they are there..._

_Losing them both, I scream-_

_I want to lay down, and die..._

_I see you in those dreams_

_Dancing with no one there_

_What's it that you're doing,_

_My slender sweetest friend?_

_And I may not know-_

_What is the truth..._

_Though there is only one – _

_It might not be for me._

_Do you hear what it is I'm saying –_

_Death, my treacherous friend?_

_You'll get what you wanted, _

_And hit that strike you missed. _

_She lies there in my dreams-_

_A dream within a dream._

_Fire in her eyes – _

_The end, no more tears..._

_Cause I'll never see those eyes –_

_My sole sweetest friend._

_Can you believe me when I ask –_

_Can you picture what we'll be?_

_And I may not know- _

_What is, the truth..._

_Though there is, only one–_

_It might not be for me._

_Do you hear what it is I'm saying–_

_Death, my treacherous friend?_

_You'll get what you wanted, _

_And hit that strike you missed._

_If I could try again, _

_I would see her one more time_

_Never in my dreams_

_If even just limply in my arms..._

**lllll**

**Don't Walk Away – What Is The End?**

**lllll**

Shinichi eased away from the main hall into the adjacent salon. It was stupid of him to come; he leaned against the wall and banged his fist against it.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid. _

He knew no one on the other side would hear. They were all too busy drinking and dancing, laughing. It was enough to make him feel ill. And he knew for a fact that she would not want to speak to him. He was surprised though that she hadn't sent someone to kick him out of the party. He hadn't been formally invited. Kazuha had just_accidentally_ registered as coming in a party of four and given him a call.

That was not to say that the rest of them hadn't been trying to do something either...

**lllll**

**lll**

**lllll**

Tottori...

Was the last place he was thinking of going.

No, just as in sweeping a crime scene it would be wiser to start from one side and end on the opposite side.

He was on the train to Hokkaido and it wasn't a surprise that he had already solved one murder on that train. Of course, he decided that it would be best to use a different name. Donning sunglasses and borrowing the name "Hachibee" from a shonen magazine left lying around, it had taken just over an hour and so the train was now delayed a bit.

It wasn't his fault that where ever he went he would run into a murder or a murderer would run into him. It was as if he were cursed. However as blessed as he was in the number of ordinary murderers he met, when it came to cases concerning the Black Organization, it had been a long time.

A very long time.

**lll**

About five years ago, it seemed as if crime had stopped. Or at least the murder cases of the papers were getting solved without the "Sleeping Detective" Kogoro. Even Hattori was feeling it somewhat in Osaka. That year's rates of thefts, smugglings and small crimes were later revealed to be less than half of those of the previous years.

During that year, one day in June, after he accompanied Kogoro on a simple case early one morning, on the way home by route of the Circular line, he spotted a man in black sitting at the other end of the car. He knew better than to suspect that every person in black worked for the organization but something deep in his bones told him the person was dangerous. Aside from the black suit and suitcase the only thing any other person would think as suspicious were the heavily glared sunglasses the man was wearing.

Of course, Conan was not just any other person.

Two stops before they were to get off, the man in black stepped off the train, and pushed his suitcase into the hands of a young man stepping onto the train.

He wore a high school uniform from one of the more prestigious schools in the area the train was passing. He was tall and had a pleasing face. Shame it was really, that one of its last expressions had to be absolutely horrified in response to whatever the man in black had whispered to him when passing the case.

His last expression, however, was brave. Conan recognized it, and realized what was about to happen when the young man looked around the train and then curled himself around the suitcase.

Conan did not waste time and pulled Kogoro and himself through an open window. The explosion engulfed the train car just as they made it out and made them tumble over. But Conan's attention was not to be diverted, though he felt vaguely at fault for the victim, and his eyes fell on the man in black walking quickly, but not conspicuously fast enough, up the stairs to the exit.

"Ojisan! Call the police!"

"Hey! Wait a sec!"

Conan ignored Kogoro's yells and fell into pursuit. Three blocks down and he had avoided being in the man's line of sight despite the man's continual habit to look over his shoulder every minute. But then what sane adult would suspect a 10 year old? Even if said adult, belonged to a gang led by sociopaths.

When the man stopped at a bus stop and sat on the bench, Conan easily placed a tracer on the man's pant leg. Pretending to spill coins and pick them up had been an excellent cover.

At a crosswalk an hour later, the man stood casually with the others waiting for the light to change. He seemed to be heading for the warehouse district on the edge of town. The distance between the man and Conan was closing in his eagerness.

_Now I have him... and I'll see who he works f-_

What happened in that moment would be something Conan never forgot.

An adult's hand gripped his shoulder tightly and a gravelly voice asked him what he was doing. Just before he answered, Conan heard the loading click of a gun.

20-year-old mind or not he was still in a ten-year-olds body.

"I'm just standing here-" he tried to reply but he was pulled into the side alley.

Only then could Conan look at the man who had pulled him in.

And his eyes turned very wide.

"A..."

"Leave this to us. We know where he's from or rather who he really is."

Akai was already walking away when Shinichi yelled after him.

"I have a stake in this too!"

Akai ignored him.

Anger bubbling, Conan ran out of the alley the other way and kept tabs as to where his target was. Some minutes later it became clear that the possible Black Organization bomber had reached his destination.

"She should have pulled out of the election as we asked. Her son needn't had suffered," Gin's cold tones came into range.

"That was fun," a stunningly familiar woman's voice rang in Conan's ear, "I felt like a Middle-East terrorist."

"You're wonderful Vermouth. Taking on the mission yourself. Personally, a sniper shot would have done the trick. Remember the 'random' snipers in the states a few years back? Ha-ha, the panic caused was bliss."

"Yes, that maybe true but nothing scares the public more than a bomber. Especially after that theft of semtex we conducted just last week..."

Some more talking, general Black Organization chatter.

In the midst of it, a cell phone rang but it disappeared into the background.

And then Gin came back on.

"Tonight should go as planned. It looks as if all is arranged."

"So what's the assignment?" piped up one of the other female voices.

"[H-2-N-Air B. We'll be on the [Tiger's side of course."

_H-2-N-Air B? Tiger?_

"Tonight will be the last time he'll shine. Him and the artist," add Vermouth.

"Hmph, that was already established since the assignment was handed to us."

"Aniki, is this target really so important?"

"Not at all, it's just some are as dispensable as we always thought them to be. Though this usually wouldn't be in our jurisdiction, _He_ has seen it fit that we take care of them. Especially considering how many times the artist foils our plans. This time we'll just foil his."

"But wasn't he declared dead before?"

"Obviously that wasn't the case and he's been poking into our world, again."

_Who are they talking about?_

"Eh? What do you mean?" asked another male voice.

"Heh, I know you're young Rye but brushing up on history would be a more worthwhile time than polishing your gun."

Gin chuckled, "Then since we have time, why don't you share this ill-fated Tiger's past.

"Another time perhaps. Script writing has never been my forte. Let's get going; we need time to prepare after all."

Conan then sat back and watched the vehicles leave the warehouse from his bus stop bench. All six. Three of the lot were vans.

And the race began. Conan began to run from there. He had to figure out who, what or where "H-2-N-Air B" was and who was the "Tiger"...

He slowed as he caught a glimpse of a few FBI cars a block down, recognizable by Jodie-sensei's presence, but caught a break at a bus stop to find the line that went through Beika and Haido.

He knew for sure the men in black would not make their move until the evening but it was already two in the afternoon and he would have to think and act fast.

_First I need to know where they're headed... what the heck is [H-2-N-Air B? He said it in English so that must be part of the hint... B is for bridge, but the rest... maybe if I turn it around... [Air–N-2–H... Air-N-two-H, Air-an-two-h... N, does it stand for "and"?... from the beginning then it's H2 and Air... using the 'O' would make it obvious, rather use the N that makes it stand for both and itself... Water AND Air... It's in English so that makes it "mizu" and "tei," in japanese... AH! That's it! The romanji for the Teimizu river – the bridges over the Teimizu River – the three that connect Toriya and Haido cities!_

Conan looked out the window and realized that the bus was slowing.

_Ah! I need to get the other line now... I'm already at Haido Park._

Hopping off the bus and waiting for another was not his favorite thing to do mainly because he couldn't just sit and think about who their victim would be. But it did sound like victims and that did not ease his anxiousness.

Once settled in a seat again he continued his thoughts...

_Okay, so the Tiger, Tiger..._

_Tyger! Tyger Tyger burning bright, in the forests of the night. Vermouth said that tonight would be the last time he shines. That fits with the poem... And she mentioned something about an artist... how does that fit... "Artist" itself must be a clue, Vermouth knows I put the tracker on her pant leg. ... she wants me to win – God only knows why... Okay, Think Shinichi! Think! The poem Tyger is written by William Blake... but he was never an artist... He probably had a few that were his enemy... Who the heck is this Tiger?! Okay... if he only comes out at night then it's a hunter. And Tigers are solitary creatures so this other person is not their friend. A cat and mouse sort of game...?_

_No that doesn't make sense... how does the poem go...?_

Flipping open his cell phone in front of him it didn't take him more than a minute to find the poem.

**lllll**

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright/ In the forests of the night,/ What immortal hand or eye/ Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies/ Burnt the fire of thine eyes?/ On what wings dare he aspire?/ What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art./ Could twist the sinews of thy heart?/ And when thy heart began to beat,/ What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?/ In what furnace was thy brain?/ What the anvil? what dread grasp/ Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,/ And watered heaven with their tears,/ Did he smile his work to see?/ Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright/ In the forests of the night,/ What immortal hand or eye/ Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

**lllll**

Conan twitched at the poem displayed to him in English. He knew the language well but poetry asked for a bit more on his part.

_Okay the poem comes down to God making both the Tiger and the Lamb. And God is both creator and destroyer... So did the Organization create this person, they're ending his life after all... Okay the latter is obvious but let's not assume them creating this person and the artist...There's something more here... Blake's speaker is known as both himself and God. Would the Tiger tell this poem? Could Tiger be God? The whole process is expressed to be something almost like magic..._

Conan looked up from his phone and thoughts as he felt the bus slow. His jaw fell to his knees when he realized that he was already over the bridge and took in the sight before him.

The bus was not stopping because they were coming to a bus stop but because of a crowd that was spilling into the street from around the park adjacent to the cultural district in Toriya.

It would be host that evening to a performance-

Courtesy of the Kaitou Kid.

_Artists, lambs, kids, eye, wings, burning your hand in the fire – okay so this is complete gibberish but it has to be him!_

_Or at least it'll have something to do with him... _

Conan got off the bus as soon as he could and made a run for it through the crowd. That turned to be fruitless quickly considering his size, and he started to take the alternative route through the denser path of bushes.

Of course, bushes, like alleys, didn't like him.

Shinichi supposed it was "National Pull A Child Out of Public View" day.

"Sorry Cool Kid but I have to ask you to leave. Civilians can't be involved with this one."

"Jodie-sensei! You can't deny me being involved!"

"This one might get really ugly."

"It already was ugly! I saw a guy blown to bits on the train! Someone is going to give up their potential spot as prime minister because their family was targeted! Someone is going to die tonight if we don't do something to sto-"

Jodie looked at him confused as he fell silent.

It clicked when his hand went to his ear. He caught her eye and mouthed "Vermouth."

In his ear the smooth (the most appropriate adjective there is) tones of her voice explained...

"_I'm currently out of our makeshift hiding place. I have no doubts that you know where it is. But that is not the issue at the moment. Our target is. It is imperative you do not let him die and you must not be seen. I have a promise to keep and I've kept it well until now. You may safely assume I have my own agendas but what they are matter little to you as you know I have no qualms killing people. It does matter to me however when good people go to waste. Let's not be disposable, ne Kudo-kun? Good luck and good day."_

The dot on his glasses disappeared and the listening device fell silent in static, a new feature to know when it had been destroyed.

"What did she say?" asked Jodie.

Conan looked up at her with narrowed eyes, "I thought civilians were not to be involved."

Jodie frowned, "All right but you'll have to be careful."

"Don't worry about it – I'm still short. Not too many people are going to look twice at me."

"So then what did she say?"

"Nothing I didn't already know," Shinichi smirked.

Jodie was not amused.

After a quick run back to Agasa's house for a few supplies and a cover story for his whereabouts, Conan was back before dusk.

Grouping with the FBI for a few minutes to know what they would be doing, it was evident that they were no longer equipped for the full-scale attacks on the Black Organization in Japan. They had been spread thin by defeating the divisions in Africa and the Middle East.

It would cost them dearly.

The heist would begin at seven. Dusk was at 6:43 pm.

Shinichi kept an eye out for suspicious figures, those in black and phantom thieves.

It wasn't too hard getting into the museum for all of Nakamori's preparation. And no one was going to question what he was doing there if he was seen – he'd been up against Kid enough times in the paper.

However, this time he would be short of knowledge. He had not seen the hint Kid sent and he did not know the target that Kid was after.

The exhibit rooms were large with impressive ceilings. The items on display were from all over the world. The same could be said for the jewelry. Every kind you could imagine – sapphires, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, tiger-eyes, jade pieces – everything. Of course, that was just from his hidden point of view.

"Boy!" a sharp whisper came out of nowhere.

Conan looked out from his inconspicuous corner and saw a police officer coming up behind him. A rookie if there ever was one. "Hey! What are you doing in here?"

"Ah! I was looking around."

"It's best if you get out of here. Come, I'll walk you out."

Conan followed him to the fire escape.

"You'll get out fine from here. The alarms are disabled for the night."

Conan raised an eyebrow. "Baka, all the alarms are set, I just saw you cut this one from over there Kid."

"Damn, can't get past you can I?" replied Kid half-lidded as he bent down to be on level with Conan.

"You can't perform your theft tonight."

"Ahh – I see you know about our guests."

"They most likely plan to kill you when you fly over the bridge."

"Umm, how'd ya figure that? But that won't matter, I've got a bulletproof vest."

"And what if they shoot off your head? Gin's got better aim than most."

"I'll deal with it when it happens."

"Don't be stupid!"

"Don't be so paranoid Tantei-kun. If this works, you might be known as the kid who pushed _The Kid_ into retirement."

"What's going on over here?"

Both of them looked up to see Hakuba Saguru.

"Eh? Edogawa-kun? What are you doing here?"

"Well it's a Kid heist, why wouldn't I be here?" replied Conan, slapping on his childish smile.

"From what I saw a second ago, it looked like you might be conspiring with Kid," Hakuba glanced over at the disguised Kaitou.

"Okay, Hakuba-keiji, why don't I let you in on a secret..."

Conan explained, much against Kid's will, as to what he surmised was going to happen that night, who was there and just why they were so intent on killing the thief. Hakuba wasn't unfamiliar with the mysterious organization that had popped up in his case readings every now and then.

"Don't I get a say in this?" he whined.

"Fools don't have common sense. Plus it wouldn't be fair if you died before we caught you," replied Hakuba.

"Whatever."

The plan was set. Kid would fly out after the heist but it was essential that he caught the higher winds. It would give him more distance from the ground and all though they would be shakier, it would be unlikely that they would land a shot.

"Now get out there and be the bait!"

"Hey!" Kid exclaimed, but went anyway. It was show time after all.

There was a blinding light and Hakuba went out near Nakamori while Conan stayed on the sidelines.

"Kaitou Kid!" Nakamori yelled, "Where the fuck are you!?"

"Right here Nakamori-Keibu!" Kid waved from the display case of his target.

"GET HIM!"

As Kid grabbed the jewel, all hell broke loose.

Gun shots were fired. The door of the museum was slammed shut.

It was planned that there be no survivors.

**lll**

_Why are they already here? _

_[We'll just foil his..._

_Damn! They never planned to shoot him as he flew over the bridge!_

_He was never supposed to get to it!_

**lll**

Black Org operatives had infiltrated over half of Nakamori's team.

"Shit! Where are my men?!"

"_**NAKAMORI-SAN GET DOWN!"**_

Hakuba tackled Nakamori just as a hail of bullets passed. He pulled him underneath a display table for safety.

"Stay out of sight! We'll need our Inspector!"

Hakuba pulled out his gun and left him alone.

From the area near the fire escape, Conan watched horrified and angry. He couldn't be any use out in the melee of 10 officers against 20+ black org agents.

"_**Conan-kun! Conan-kun! What's going on in there?! We can't get in!"**_

_So much for FBI help on this one... _

Conan watched as Kid used a combination of acrobatics and his card gun to subdue the agents. Hakuba was doubling as medic and fighter, trying to keep the loss of life to a minimum.

Unfortunately, Nakamori never was one to stay out of the action.

"Kaitou Kid! Where in hell's name did these people come from?!"

He began shooting them as well, using a nearby knight's armor as a shield.

"_Keibu! I thought I told you to stay safe!"_ Hakuba shouted.

"_**Like hell I would!"**_

Nakamori set off at a run to get to the other side of the room, to get to where Kid was.

To get some damn answers as to just why this was happening.

It would cost him more than he bargained for.

For the brief moment as Nakamori fell, the room became eerily silent.

Conan watched wide-eyed in terror. His thoughts piecing themselves together –

_Kid created Nakamori. That's the only kind of case Nakamori would get out of bed for in the morning. He LIVES for chasing Kid. Kid is the artist... constantly creating for the tiger to critique. Nakamori's dispensable because he's never caught Kid but knows the most about him..._

"_We'll be on the [Tiger's side of course..." – Nakamori-keibu..._

_Using Nakamori to get to Kid, trap them, and..._

_...them both... _

Kid was already rushing to Nakamori.

Hakuba was at a loss for words.

Nakamori's own expression was indescribable. The pain that coursed through his body was unbearable. Two white-hot suns embedded in his flesh.

_I'm gonna die..._

"_**Keibu!"**_

Nakamori looked up at Kid as if seeing him for the first time. He was vaguely surprised to see that facade Kid always wore cracked.

Kid turned to the adversaries across the room.

His silence was even more terrifying than if he would have been yelling curses at them.

He continued standing there as the gunshots began again.

A few grazing Kid on his leg, then his arms, one tore through his shoulder.

Then as if he were a vengeful ghost, the cards from his gun shot out at his opponents with precise aim and speed. Bloody slits across their wrists, throats, and kneecaps sprouted out of nowhere. None of the wounds were fatal, but blood loss, and more importantly pain, was inevitable.

The officers behind Kid watched in amazement as he continued standing there over the inspector's body, taking the hailstorm of bullets while fighting back as if he felt no pain.

The bulletproof vest was doing its job but the repetition of bullet after bullet hitting the area where his heart was burned with the friction created by the jacket.

Hakuba stood up and fired his own gun. Several of the other officers followed suit.

The Black Organization agents were soon falling back and heading towards the door...

"Don't let them escape!" ordered Hakuba as the men started fleeing into the courtyard.

Conan and Kid were left inside with Nakamori.

Kid kneeled over the older-man. He made little effort to keep his hat from falling.

"Keibu? Keibu, you alive?"

Conan kept his distance as he edged towards the two. The white of Kid's outfit now stained, a mixture of his and Nakamori's blood.

It was obvious enough that the image of the hot-tempered, lively man lying in a pool of his own blood had killed the infamous Poker face.

"Don't die Keibu, come on, say something. Aoko, she still needs you. You can't leave her. You can't give up."

Conan stood silent, it was clear that Kid knew Nakamori outside of the nightly heists.

The man's eyes slid open; a cough bubble of blood fought its way from his throat.

"Kaito-kun? Whadarya wearing that outfit for?"

Kid looked at him and took off the monocle as he softly said, "Well that's because my Dad used to wear it."

Nakamori eyed him through semi-glazed eyes, "I see."

"I'm sorry."

"No no, don't be. It's not me you have to say sorry to..."

The man's breathing fell steady and peaceful as his eyes closed.

Kaito pulled off the radio from Nakamori's belt and cleared his throat.

"Inspector Nakamori is down! Send immediate medical attention inside the museum!"

"_Request already given. Fire-fight is prohibiting any entrance to the museum. Who is speaking?"_

"GET AROUND TO THE BACK! There's a fire exit you can use to get him out!"

He turned off the radio.

"Come on Kudo-kun. We need to get out of here. Lucky for you you're still light enough for the hang glider."

They climbed the fire escape up to the roof. From there they could see that the fire-fight had ended and the many of the operatives had been captured. There was no Black Viper or Porsche in sight.

"Looks like Gin never planned to shoot you down."

"I would have rather dealt with that," already his voice was bitter.

Off they flew into the night.

They landed on a roof some miles away.

Silently they traveled down five flights of stairs and stopped.

"I just have to stop here to change. Give me a minute."

Conan waited.

Thirty minutes later, the door opened.

"Before you step out, please tell me your real name so I can address you properly."

"Heh, didn't you hear the keibu? It's Kaito. Kuroba Kaito."

"Kuroba?" Conan looked wide-eyed at the messy-haired doppelganger of Kudo Shinichi covered in bandages.

"My father was the late magician Kuroba Toichi."

And so the story unfolded. From there Kaito and Shinichi switched off on telling their circumstances on the way to Hakuba's place of residence.

Hakuba's father was not there but the Butler allowed them inside, informing them that _Young Master_ Hakuba was out and had not yet returned.

They were served tea and they talked more as they waited for Hakuba to return.

"What do you mean I have visitors?!" they heard Hakuba's voice around one in the morning.

"An old classmate of yours – he said you knew he was coming."

"I- yes of course I did. I forgot with the excitement of this evening. Thank you Butler." Both Kaito and Shinichi could imagine Hakuba adjusting his jacket and making himself presentable before he would enter. They didn't expect Hakuba to come into the living room and raise an eyebrow at the two of them.

"I hope you got the bleeding to stop because I'm not cleaning up after you."

"No worries. Most were just grazes. Any tears are repairable. Took more time to clean up than anything."

"I finished several games on my cell phone in that time by the way."

Kaito looked at Conan, "They were probably the easy ones."

"Never said they weren't. I said _several._ That's a key word there."

"So what are you two doing here?" Hakuba asked as he slumped into his recliner chair.

"The kid forced me here," started Kaito, "Of course kid isn't the right word considering who he really is."

Hakuba stayed slumped, "Umm, I've had enough surprises tonight, and I think that whatever I might not already know can wait until later. Anyway Kuroba, Aoko was at the hospital. You might want to go comfort her."

"I don't know if there'd be anything I can say to her."

"You won't know unless you find out," said Conan.

Kaito raised an eyebrow, "I don't think you're one to talk."

Nonetheless, Kaito left them then.

Conan and Hakuba eventually fell asleep in the living room after discussing what Kaito had told Conan and Conan answered all of Hakuba's questions about not being Kudo Shinichi.

**lll**

The next day Conan went to the hospital where Nakamori was under care to find Kuroba. Word was that he hadn't gone home last night. Hakuba in the meantime went to the station to see what the prisoner situation was.

Shinichi found him sitting in a waiting room with two cups of coffee.

"Yo Kuroba."

"Hey," Kaito smiled weakly.

His face was pale and shadows were clinging to his red eyes.

"Who's the second cup of coffee for?"

"Aoko, she just got called away. He might have woken up."

"How long was he in surgery for?"

"About four hours. The first bullet was just under his heart. A second..."

"Kuroba..." Conan looked at him concerned as Kaito's expression was completely cracking.

"A second fractured his lower spinal cord... He probably won't walk again..."

"It's not your fault."

"Heh, it's so easy to say it... but to believe it?" a wistful smile came over his features, "He's like my Dad... always praising, saying how good I am... I really screwed up..."  
They sat silent until they head light footsteps coming toward them.

"Kaito?"

"Aoko, what is it?" Kaito looked up at the pale-faced shaking woman.

"My Dad... he says he'd like to talk to you."

"Oh- okay..."

Kaito got up and gave Aoko her cup of coffee.

Aoko showed him the way.

**lll**

"_**I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!"**_

"_**Aoko, calm down damn it!"**_

"_You calm down! I can't believe you would keep that from me! From me Kaito! We've been going out for months now! You didn't honestly believe that I wouldn't find out eventually did you?"_

"I was going to tell you eventually-"

"When?!_After the wedding!_ Come on Kaito! How could you do this to us?!" She backed away, in truth she didn't want to know the answer. She didn't want to know any of it.

Kaito gripped her arm, "_I tried Aoko._ I tried. You heard what I told your Dad in there. He's angry but he can accept what I did. He doesn't blame me. Why can't you?"

She pulled away, _**"Because I trusted you more!"**_

Kaito didn't want to give up. He pulled her close to him with both arms around her waist.

"_Let me go Kaito! Let me go!"_ She started pounding his shoulders, tears beginning to stream from the pool blue eyes.

"Aoko I don't care what you think of me."

"_No!"_

"I love you, get it."

"_No," she choked on her breath, "No!"_

"I tried. I tried to keep this whole thing-"

"_Stop it Kaito!"_

"-from touching you because you are that _one_ thing that makes me forget-"

"_Please Kaito! Let me go!" _

"-about all of this. Don't give up on me Aoko."

"_**I hate you Kuroba Kaito! I hate you!"**_

And he let go of her.

**lllll**

Hakuba stepped into the hospital.

The first thing he heard were the echo of a woman's footsteps running.

They were getting louder.

Then he saw who they belonged to.

"Aoko?"

She stopped running and looked at Hakuba. There was something in his expression that gave it away, that he wasn't as surprised as another person would be, to see his co-worker in tears, her face red and blotchy, ready to continue on her way uninterrupted.

"D-did you know?" she asked through her tears.

Hakuba gave a slow nod.

"Tell him," she hiccupped, "Tell him he didn't try hard enough."

And then she left.

Concerned, he went in the direction she came from. Around the corner and down the hall, he saw Kaito standing there in shock. Eyes wide, and his breathing shallow.

"Kuroba, what happened?"

Kaito snapped out of his trance and fell back into a chair.

"She said, she said she hated me... man I've been stupid. I knew it wouldn't work... Especially when she joined the MP after graduation. I should have just let go then..."

"I saw her as I was coming in," said Hakuba, "You okay?"

"Yeah," Kaito took a deep breath, composing himself, "Did she say anything?"

"No, nothing."

"Right," Kaito nodded.

"Well I have some depressing news," started Hakuba.

Conan finally woke up from his thoughts, "Don't tell me..."

"All captured Black Org. agents had cyanide tablets on them. They committed suicide."

**lllll**

**lll**

**lllll**

"That was a terrible story."

Everyone looked over at Takagi.

"I mean it just wasn't what I was expecting. I already knew he was Kudo-kun, but I could never imagine the involvement of a huge organization."

"Well now you know."

"But Jodie-san, how do you know all this?"

"Well, most of it is based on gathered intelligence and Kudo-kun's brief hints of what happened."

"So," Ran spoke for the first time, "This organization has a poison that kills people without it showing up in the autopsy… but it couldn't_kill_ him... unlike all these people..." she stared down on the reports on the floor.

Sato looked at her, "Ran-chan..."

"If Kudo Shinichi was not as smart as he is, he would have died a long time ago," a sharp, almost stern voice, announced from the doorway.

"Huh?"

Everyone looked at the doorway again. There stood Megure, Shiratori, the parents of Kudo Shinichi and Ran's own parents as well, Eri standing calmly at the front.

"Okaasan..."

"Ran, please sit down. I think it's time you heard Shinichi's side of several more events."

lllll

"_So you've been stuck like this all this time?"_

"_Yeah, I-"_

"_Hold on, let me make us some tea. This kind of thing demands it."_

_Eri walked over to the utility cupboard, behind Conan's back, where the tea packets were kept to also conveniently pull out the small voice recorder she had left there by chance the other day. She turned it on, slipped it into her front pocket and went on making the tea._

_She carried over the tea tray, "So go over that again, what are the names of the men who shrank you?"_

_Even the great detective had to be outsmarted sometimes..._

**lllll**

Somehow, she wasn't as surprised as they thought she would be. Each word had seemed to trigger a memory, followed by another in a domino effect that culminated in filling in what she almost certainly knew.

It was like singing along perfectly to a song you hadn't really listened to before.

Tropical land, the hot springs, the school play, one after another they went on and on. She realized how close she had gotten, to knowing Shinichi's secret and the danger he was trying to shield her from. But someone in the body of a child could only do so much and he had failed long before he called to tell her that he would not be coming back.

After all, despite separating them for so long, it really had been the only way to do this. If she had known, the false relationship might have been compromised...

"Ran-chan?" Takagi called out.

"Ah? Oh sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Did you say something?"

"I asked if you were all right. You were kind of spacing out."

"She'll be fine Takagi-keibu. She just needs to realize what she's going to do about all this," commented Yusaku.

Yukiko looked at him, "What are you saying?"

"I know what he's saying," interjected Eri, "But it's up to Ran."

Ran looked to them back and forth. Shiratori, Sato and Takagi looked at each other somewhat confused. Megure-keibu looked determined. Kogoro appeared bothered, unsure what to say.

"All of us here in this room, we know more about these people than anyone out there. So many people," she looked at the pile on the floor, "Have died, disappeared. This can't continue. But is this enough to find them all? The Gin and Vodkas of the world and the Boss at the top. This seems so much worse than the Yakuza problems I studied at school. This is global, these people are wealthy, these are their_kicks_, there's a lot to gain and lose…"

Jodie cleared her throat, "Ran-chan, you don't have to do this. They're not a threat to you. You're living just fine by yourself. You're safe."

"For now, but I'm sure Okaasan has had a run in or two, even if she doesn't know it. These people stake out the best of the best they can use. If they can't they get rid of them.

"Shinichi always said there is only one truth. And I think I know what it is now. That justice will prevail. And it takes courage, patience and the will to prevail.

"It's really just like love."

**lll**

Kuroba Kaito smirked as he listened to Ran.

_She really does have it bad. _

_I guess I'll have to help her along. _

He stood up from the floor and put on his coat.

He'd have to hurry, he was late to the impromptu meeting as it was.

**lllll**

**lll**

**lllll**

Within a number of weeks, the counter-organization took root. With the brains of Mouri Ran at the helm, the FBI, select officers of the Metropolitan PD, and the branch in Osaka; it seemed as if the time was right to begin bringing the black organization down to its knees.

Akai quickly took the role as second in command, revealing to Ran the circumstances in which he had been associated with the organization. Valuable as always, information on the organization was quickly pouring in.

Kazuha took up a position at a newspaper and was the eyes and ears of the group, constantly on the look-out for those special signs.

Eri continued her work at the Kisaki Law Firm, taking on a wider demographic of cases in search of leads.

Kogoro was doing well with the detective agency. Now aware of his almost assassination, he stopped listening to the radio on an earpiece.

Hakuba and Haibara had made it back to Japan every few months for the reporting meeting. It was decided that they travel abroad as much as they could to gather intelligence on the organization's holdings in Europe.

The Osaka and Metropolitan PD's were a strange affair all together. In Osaka, Heiji was quickly rising through the ranks. He was second in command to Otaki, who always indulged the young officer in doing things his own way. His father and Kazuha's of course, now part of the higher ups, were filled in and trusted. Especially after they shared their private file of the "strange goings" they had noticed in the Osaka area. Nothing illegal but definitely not the norm. Some was circumstantial, but after Akai gave it an eye, he commented that some it was work he knew well.

"Eh?" commented Ran.

"Well," he looked off to the side, "I did it."

The group couldn't help but laugh and look uncomfortable at the same time.

The MPD group, though small had its resources. The best three inspectors from Investigation Section 1, the help of the Chief of Police, and the head of Investigation Section 2.

That last one had been a hard to come by ally.

**lllll**

**lll**

**lllll**

"So I'm a little late to the party aren't I?"

Ran turned and looked, for the third time that early morning, at the doorway. There stood a figure in white. It was rather odd for the occasion.

Sato stared wide-eyed. Takagi raised an eyebrow, not amused (it had to do more with a hurt pride than a bad memory). Shiratori, Megure, Eri and Kogoro choked on their breaths. Yukiko let out a sound, a cross between a scream of delight and amazement. Yusaku gave smiled wryly at the man who stood across from him.

"You!" Ran got out of her mouth which had become paralyzed in shock.

He bowed low, "Good evening, I hope this is not an intrusion. But as this is a bit of a reunion, I thought I would stop by and give my regards to Ran-chan."

Kogoro raised an eyebrow. _That's an awfully familiar way to talk to my daughter…_

"I believe you would do well to investigate the details of several of my heists back before my eight year disappearance."

Ran distinctly heard Yukiko whisper, "How cute, he's even holding up the act!"

"As well as the death of a certain renowned magician around that time, I believe that may yield some results."

"Ahem."

Everyone looked at Yusaku.

"I believe you've just confirmed for us that you are not the first Kaitou Kid."

Kid did not bat an eye, "I have said nothing to that effect."

"No you certainly have, otherwise you could tell us the details of your heists from that time and you would know the details of that magician's death, had he not really died. But as Kuroba Toichi did die, those details died with him.

"Isn't that right, Kuroba-kun?"

Yukiko bounced forward, "He's so much older now!

"Say hi properly to your neechan!"

"I distinctly remember calling you Obasan, and you always made the most demonic face I ever saw in response."

"Well this time," she replied and pulled at his cheek, "I'll teach you to speak to your elders with more respect."

Ran couldn't help but laugh but stopped as she realized something.

"Kuroba. That was the name on the card you gave me this afternoon."

"Card?" perked up Yusaku.

Kogoro got to it first.

"This isn't a card! It's a listening device."

Ran goggled at it, "What?"

"How do you think he knew where and when to come? He must have been listening all day since the afternoon."

"EH!?"

Invasion of privacy didn't exactly earn points with Ran.

"Why you-!!"

"Ah, ah just wait okay! Let me explain! I was on the flight back with Kudo-kun from London! I heard how he disappeared after so I thought I might keep an eye on you just to make sure you were doing okay. But then I heard the details of the case this afternoon after I gave you the card. And then all this… well I had to come didn't I?"

Ran lowered her arms in her karate stance, "I guess…"

"I'll come by later again as I've given myself away. I may steal from people material possessions but those people steal lives. And you can't get those back…

"Please do look into what I said. Please?"

"Okay… just don't hide. It's rather annoying."

"I guess that's fair, after all it's what most people do around you huh?"

And he left Ran with that very interesting thought.

**lll**

A few days later, once the counter-organization had been somewhat formed, Ran finally had time to go down to the MPD and request copies of certain files.

As Kuroba Toichi's death had been classified as an accident and as Section 1 specialized in murders, his files would be in Section 2's records.

Ran's heels clicked along the white tile floors. She had already found the report numbers for the Kaitou Kid ones. There were so many files, Ran knew it would cost a pretty penny. There were two however that would be difficult to acquire.

The one on Kuroba Toichi was older but had been placed under limited release.

The other, of the night of the July Heist, had to be signed off for release by the head Inspector as well.

Therefore, Ran was on her way to the office of Inspector Nakamori.

"Nakamori-keibu is in a meeting. Would you like to wait in the office?" asked the Inspector's secretary.

"Ah, yes. Thank you."

Ran was shown into the glass-paneled office of Inspector Nakamori, very Perry White-esque. She took a seat in the chair across the desk.

"Nakamori-keibu will be with you shortly."

"Thank you."

The secretary showed himself out and closed the door.

Ran leaned back and looked around the office. It was clean and the light from the window behind the desk made the room fairly bright.

She quickly noticed a frame on the desk. It was uncommon that people put out pictures on their desks; it was a very American practice.

She reached out slowly and turned it with one finger.

Three happy faces smiled at her.

It was a very candid picture, at a party it seemed. The girl was wearing a faux police badge pinned to her shirt. The boy, in handcuffs, had only one on.

Ran's ears picked up footsteps coming toward the office and quickly turned the picture back.

The door opened and in walked in the youngest Inspector ever in the history of the MPD, beating out her own father's record by just a year, Nakamori Aoko.

"Good afternoon, Mouri-san."

Ran stood and shook her hand, "Good afternoon Nakamori-san. I hope I find you well."

"Yes thank you, and you?"

"Just doing some investigating, a bit of a side project."

"Really, sounds luxurious. You have that kind of time? I heard you graduated from law school recently. No jobs lined up?"

"Well this is what you call one of those "callings" but yes I'll be working at the Kisaki Law Firm."

"A great place to start. I'm sure there were others vying for your spot."

Ran nodded, "Heh, well I was picked fairly. My mother owning the firm had nothing to do with it. Just like you and this job."

Aoko laughed, "Ha, trust me it's more of a burden sometime than a job."

She paused for a moment, "So you wanted the July File huh?"

Ran nodded, "I was told it would help in my investigations."

"May I ask by who?"

"Just a friend."

Aoko resisted raising an eyebrow, "Well this friend is very well informed, it's not someone from my department right? Or the reporters? They're always cornering my men to see if they have some detail we haven't released publicly about that thief."

"No," Ran waved her hands, "Of course not."

"Anyway," Aoko got up and went to a gray file cabinet in the far right corner of the office and pulled out a file from the bottom most drawer.

"That's a photo-copy," she began, "I keep a few of them lying around in case someone like you comes in asking for it." She leaned over her desk and signed a carbon-copy slip of paper. She split them apart and slipped the yellow copy onto the protruding iron paper weight-like pike.

Aoko looked down onto the appointment sheet and stopped.

"Is something wrong Keibu?"

Aoko sat back into her chair and read over the appointment sheet closer.

"You wanted the file on Kuroba Toichi?"

"Ah yes. Is something the matter Keibu?"

"You checked out the other Kaitou Kid files available for the public correct?"

"Yes," Ran nodded and looked at Aoko, "Is-"

She was interrupted by Aoko suddenly standing up.

"Would you be so kind to tell me the particulars of this investigation you are conducting Mouri-san. If you would be so kind?"

Aoko's cold tones shook Ran to the core.

_What is the matter with this woman? She is getting awfully defensive. _

"I was told that the _accidental_ death of Kuroba Toichi," began Ran as she stood up, "Was connected to the people who have previously targeted people close to the Kaitou Kid," replied Ran in her equally hard voice.

"Who told you that?"

"A friend."

Aoko looked around the office through the glass and lowered her voice.

"Mouri-san. This is a dangerous line of inquiry. I cannot give you that file."

Ran chose her words carefully.

"I know how dangerous my complete investigation is. Are you busy this afternoon?"

Aoko looked surprised and then glanced down at her schedule.

"No appointments of importance. Why?"

"I thought perhaps it would be better to talk in a more private setting."

**lll**

Kaito looked up at the apartment building Ran lived in. The sun made it shine like a beacon. The glass pristine and new, clearly it had not seen its share of winter storms.

He stepped into the lobby and looked at the name listings. They were on shiny plaques. One number was vacant.

"Geez, the apartment association must be making a fortune here… Ah there it is, Mouri. Floor… number…"

Kaito walked over to the set of elevators and walked into one just emptying out. He pressed the button to close the doors and headed up.

He stretched out a bit as he waited. Sometimes the lack of space just made him itch to move.

The elevator dinged open and he made his way around the hall. He stopped at her apartment and rang the bell. He heard voices inside.

_She must have company… I'll make this quick…_

The door creaked open.

"Kaito…"

He froze as he looked at who was answering the door.

"Aoko? What are…"

Ran quickly made her way to the doorway.

"Oh Kaito-kun, come in."

Aoko still stood there dumbfounded, unable to say anything. Her mouth opening and closing, failing to find the words.

Ran glanced quickly over to Kaito, calculating.

"Sorry Ran-chan, seems as if this was a bad time, I'll-"

Ran hulled him inside by the arm, "Nonsense. This is the perfect time."

She slammed the door shut and turned all the locks on it.

"Now…"

"Actually Ran-kun, I have to get going. There was this meeting I completely forgot about. Completely important. I really have to-"

"No one is going anywhere," declared Ran looking back and forth between the two of them.

"Really Ran-chan, this is unnecessary."

"I think otherwise. He," she said pointing at Kaito while addressing Aoko, "Was on that picture on your desk. And now you're trying to get away from him as if he's the ninth plague of Egypt. If I'm going to be working with both of you, I need to know that you can work together."

"You mean she's-"

"You're trusting him!"

She glared at them both, "Details now."

Kaito tried to stand up a little straighter, "Have you told her about…"

"I hadn't gotten to you if that's what you mean."

"I know about that," Aoko spoke up, "Just not about the organization. The report put it as-"

"Yes, a renegade terrorist group that hates Kid. I was flattered Keibu put that in. The paper published letters from Kid fans for the following ten weeks saying they were appalled that someone would try to take away _their_ Kid."

Aoko glared at Kaito, "You have absolutely no shame."

"Whatever," began Ran, gaining their attention again, "I need to be sure that you both can work together on this 'bring down the evil organization business.' Now sit down please both of you."

Aoko and Kaito walked into the living room and sat down on opposite couches while Ran went into the kitchen to save the burning tea.

Kaito smelled the sweet honey tea from his spot.

_She must have acquired a taste for more western teas. They're not half bad either…_

His eyes wandered over Aoko quickly. Her skirt was just high enough for him to appreciate the work out her legs got every other night from chasing him.

And since she had joined the 1412 taskforce he had gotten very close to being captured several times. More so when she finally became Inspector.

Sitting across from her now he could see that it was only the running that caused that top button on her blouse to become undone, giving him the peek he loved seeing every time he was trying to escape from her.

Again, that was the reason he had almost been caught several times.

_The perv._

Aoko kept looking out the window or over to the kitchen. She wanted to get out. But Ran was blocking the exit.

She could feel his gaze on her. It was taking everything she had to not shiver under it or look back at him.

_How? Why? How does he still have this pull over me!? To make me freeze as soon as he looks at me… Is he going to smile still?_

_CAN HE STOP LOOKING AT ME!!!_

_I told him I hated him. FIVE YEARS AGO. I think that's enough time to get over it._

_Why am I not over it…_

Aoko was about ready to burst when Ran came with the tray of tea.

"All right. Now. So let me get this straight. You know," she pointed at Aoko, "That he," she pointed at Kaito, "Is the Kaitou Kid?"

"Yes," they responded in unison.

"And she knows your father was…"

"Yes," they repeated.

"And now she's in charge of the Kaitou Kid task force?"

"Yes," said Aoko by herself.

"Why?"

"It's my fault…" said Kaito.

"What?"

"That's not it. That was the career path I was already taking in the first place. It has nothing to do with Kaito."

"Wait," started Ran, "You guys were together right?"

Kaito nodded as Aoko took a sip from her tea.

"You hadn't told her yet had you?"

"That's right. It was my fault that Keibu was shot that night. I didn't protect him. I don't blame Aoko for hating me at all…"

Aoko kept her eyes on her tea cup.

"A lot of bad things happened, and I didn't react well. After all… we had been very serious, and…"

"In any case," began Ran realizing it was going further than it needed to at the moment, "I need to know if these feelings can be worked through. So I know I can depend on you two working together."

"You mean not try my hardest-" they both said in unison.

"I'm not asking either of you to change the way you do things now, I'm asking to work together to stop these people."

"Well I'm up for it," replied Kaito quickly.

Ran looked at him though half-lidded eyes, "Of course I know you're fine with it. But I need to know about Aoko…"

Aoko looked back and forth between the two of them.

Ran watched Aoko's face go from soft to hard in a matter of seconds when finally Aoko burst out, "Only because these are the guys that shot my Dad!"

Kaito had to grin, "Well we've got something in common again."

Aoko glared.

**lll**

**lllll**

**lll**

**lllll**

**lll**

Kudo Shinichi, alias, Edogawa Conan had not been back in Tokyo for almost two years now. And the chilly air did nothing but compound his homesickness for the Mouri's cozy apartment or his seat in front of the old fireplace in the library. The January air also reminded him that it was on this day, ten years ago, that he took Ran on their first and only date.

He was not in the least surprised at himself when he boarded the afternoon train to Tokyo. Getting off, it didn't shock him that things looked more or less the same. Of course, he knew how things had been going in Tokyo. All the hubbub with Mouri Ran, attorney, cracking the biggest cases of all time.

Not to mention her progress at chipping away on the Black Organization.

But his worry now fell not entirely on Ran. His newfound underground fame was causing some trouble. More people seemed to want to know who exactly was this detective calling himself Conan. The next "Kudo Shinichi" he was being called by the papers, who though not having a single picture of him, felt that same aggressive investigative spirit in him.

He liked to laugh, knowing it was _exactly_ the same.

Some who had gone digging through the papers recalling the name Conan belonging to a boy who matched the Kaitou Kid every time, believed it was him, all grown up.

Others did not have to look at the paper to know he was going to create a stir once again.

He stopped at the newspaper stand by the train and picked up a newspaper. The headline read, "Kaitou Kid Escapes Yet Again!" and went on to outline the details of the heist. Conan smirked.

_Well that wasn't what brought me to Tokyo, but I could use some fun…_

He pulled out his notebook and looked at his schedule.

_Tonight…_

**lll**

Ran woke up. It was deathly cold and dark. She sat up and looked around the room as her eyes adjusted to the lack of light in the room.

The window was open. The curtains fluttered in the chilly air as it made its way around the bedroom.

_I didn't leave that open…right?_

Ran got out of the bed and slipped her robe on over her nightgown. Closing the window, she caught the scent of something vaguely familiar. A clean scent. Where had she smelled that before…?

She looked around the room as she turned on the light on the nightstand. Nothing seemed out of place.

Seeing the time she realized that she would have to wake in a few hours.

She had an important meeting tomorrow.

**lll**

**lllll**

**lll**

Heiji held on to Kazuha's hand. He knew she didn't like leaving Akane alone out of her sight even for a couple of hours. And though she was well aware that Ayumi was a very capable babysitter, and a normal teenage girl willing to give up a Friday of school to babysit instead, she was still jumpy.

"Calm down, she'll be all right."

Kazuha tried not to glare at him, but it was hard not to. She was certain that squeezing someone out of you created a very deep bond, especially when that someone was helpless on their own.

Not to mention that the little girl was already starting to walk around on her own and it just had to be that she had her father's streak of getting into trouble, i.e. bumping into the furniture.

Heiji didn't know how Kazuha could worry so much. She was always busy with all that writing she had to do. He'd gotten the growing family an apartment in Tokyo, furnished with a very homely feeling, to help ease the taxing schedule. It was just a perk that it was a few blocks away from Ran's new apartment.

On the 27th floor of the New Beika Apartment Complex, right at the top, Ran had a very roomy apartment. She loved that she had roof access too. Sleeping on the lounge chairs there after hot summer days was the best way to cool off.

It had one bedroom, a large bathroom, an open kitchen, dining and living room. A lot more comfortable than her previous apartment, though she did miss the coziness it had.

But necessity had called for it. There were only so many places in Tokyo where a large group of people could meet and talk without being overheard. Karaoke rooms were too loud and the personal bars were too tiny for fitting in more than 8 people at a time. Phone and internet meetings could be compromised.

They could all get together here.

Well minus the FBI members. Usually either Jodie or Akai appeared as a representative of the allies and to give input.

Today Akai said he would come as Jodie was busy checking on a few leads.

Ran had the house ready for the 2 o'clock meeting and had the dining table set up with snacks and drinks, having something light around helped keep the group from becoming grim. Especially considering the close calls they'd had before.

But they were getting to the home stretch.

Within the hour the group: Akai, Yusaku, Yukiko, Eri, Kogoro, Heiji, Kazuha, Haibara, Hakuba, Aoko and Takagi, was sitting around the table. Kaito liked hanging off to the side.

"All right. It looks as if we'll be able to make an arrest soon guys."

Head turned up from the papers in front of them.

Ran continued, "Earlier this week we finally got the papers linking former Chief Matsumoto to the organization. Kaito was able to sneak in and get the copies he had."

Kaito preened as Ran said his name. Hakuba smirked as he heard someone mumble "Stupid thief."

"And as he's our anonymous source in this whole matter, the court can't just throw out the evidence. It definitely connects him with a member of the organization. The beverage Pisco is mentioned throughout the files-"

"But Pisco's dead," interrupted Haibara.

"Yes, but the papers also mention Pisco's safety deposit box and the passkey. Matsumoto made a side note of "memoirs". If there is a diary of some sort in that safety deposit box we can definitely get-"

"Ran-san where are the copies?"

Ran looked to her right at Akai who had been flipping through the stacks of the papers around Ran's head of the table seat.

"They should be in that stack marked December."

"They're not there. Nothing about Matsumoto or Pisco or anything. It's just the papers we had last week."

Ran flipped through the notes she had made concerning the files.

Heiji jumped in his seat when Ran, wide-eyed, suddenly slammed them down and took off down the hall.

Takagi went after her.

Everyone stayed where they were as they heard Takagi ask, "Where did you see them last?" and Ran apparently pound the desk they knew she had in her room as she yelled, "Right there on top!"

Even Kaito who had been doing ninja moves on the ceiling stopped moving.

After a few minutes of shuffling and continued chaotic racket, Ran and Takagi came back in much quieter than they had left.

"Ran-san, you said you had the papers last night?"

"Yes I was looking at them and making notes for possible actions we could take with this new information. But I didn't write down the passkey for the safety deposit box."

Kazuha was slightly startled as Ran ended that sentence with a nice heavy pound to the table.

"You didn't leave the house Ran-san?" asked Yusaku.

"No I haven't left the house since yesterday and I still had the papers when I got back yesterday."

"You mentioned to me about getting the new information concerning Matsumoto on Wednesday, Kaito got it Tuesday night. Did you tell anyone else about it?"

Ran was trying to stop herself from feeling useless, "I told Jodie-sensei, Otousan and Kaasan, Kudo-san, Heiji-kun and Hakuba."

"Hmm, well I only told Kazuha what you told me over the phone."

"We didn't tell anyone about it," spoke up Eri.

"I of course told Yukiko."

"I told Haibara what you said over the phone."

"Kaito told me," said Aoko, "I assume we all had some knowledge about the files before we came. After all we usually don't all come at once unless it is really important."

"Well the files aren't anywhere in the house so there's only one thing to suspect," began Takagi.

"They were stolen," finished Akai.

"But who?!" began the discussion around the table. Fear of being discovered by the organization when they were this close followed quickly.

"No. That's not it," said Ran to quiet everyone's speculation.

"We have a mole…and it's for Shinichi."

**lllll**

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**lllll**

AN: Oh dear, what excuse do I have for not updating for a year and 9 months? None, nothing at all. I had this chapter finished around May, I just hadn't posted because I hadn't given it the proper look over and for that I'm sorry guys. Lots of things came up between May and this month and I feel that this story really did start with emotion so it will end in that same way, with me emotionally drained (I really couldn't hope for more – if I don't feel that way I know I haven't made it good enough). So - Good news, just one long actiony concluding chapter left and I am determined to finish it for Fic Off this January. I hope you liked the chapter and you can see where it's going. As you can see it was never my intention to bog the story down with too many details over how exactly the organization is taken down because this story is really about Shinichi and Ran. It's about them no matter how much I delve into other relationships and that's how it will end.

A quick story note. Most of this was written in 06- before the whole Akai thing in the manga, before A LOT of the latest developments. I don't even have a date for when I first saved this chapter because I changed computers midway (cry).

Anyway thank you for reading and please please review (wave).


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